ISSUE 463 -MARCH 2014 ISSN 0257-361X Volume 37

THE GAMES JOURNAL www.gamesjournal.at

INTERNATIONAL EDITION: IN THIS ISSUE WE PRESENT 54 GAMES OUR REVIEW u STEAM PARK

ROBOT FESTIVAL IN ROBOBURG of the small attractions in one turn. An attraction must, of course, build com- pletely on the starting area and may not STEAM PARK stuck out over the border. When an attrac- ROBOTS NEED FUN FAIRS, TOO tion has been built it cannot be relocated. The same rules goes for the Stands, for which is a separate symbol. You also cannot Family Park Tycoon was the name of my The six sides of all the dice show one symbol build several Stands of the same kind in a very first development simulation for a PC, each for building rides, luring visitor robots, turn. in the early Nineties of the last century. How cleaning up, playing a bonus card, build does that sound, ancient, doesn’t it?! But, Stands and one empty side. The turn order For each visitor robot that you set aside you anyhow, we constructed Fun Fairs, attracted markers are numbered from One to Four take one of the robots and put all of them visitors, created our own roller coasters - the and have, in ascending order, characteristics first ones were disasters, by the way, the car- of decreasing value. When the first three Kurt Schellenbauer riages did fly off the rails permanently - and markers have been taken, the last player I felt catapulted back to the Nineties of the last century finally we looked after the garden and took has exactly three more rolls and must then when we built Fun Fairs on the computer and tried to care that all the garbage the visitor masses place his remaining dice on the Pig. attract as many visitors as possible. And back then, we had difficulties with garbage, too. left behind was removed. The next phase is the Dirt phase. Three of I did like the little manikins that were armed the six symbols on the dice carry an addi- into the cloth bag. Which of the colors you with brooms and permanently, like Sisy- tional Dirt symbol. Each player must take a choose is left to your decision. Then you phus, scurried after the garbage heaps and Dirt marker for each Dirt symbol on his dice, draw the same number of bots from the kept crying for reinforcements. As a clever one for each visiting robot in his park and, cloth that you previously did throw in. Thus business men I did not, of course, pro- finally, the turn order markers are evaluated: you have always six robots left in the bag. vide reinforcement, because the manikins For Number One you may discard four Dirt would have been hard put to resign. markers, for Number Two two markers, It is checked if the robots you drew from the bag correspond to rides as regards to Fun Fair and Garbage Removal were the Number Three can discard none of them color and either place them at those rides, cues that enticed me to take a closer look and for Number Four you must take two Dirt if there is room for them there, or put them at the board game Steam Park. In this game Markers. In this phase you must pay special back into stock. A ride can take one visitor you construct a Fun Fair for robots, that attention, it happens again and again that for each square that it takes up on the park is, the visitors are robots. Before you start one forgets about the dirt from the visiting area. the first game you should plan some time robots. for preparations, there are a few neces- Then you take care of cleanliness in the park! sary ones, as there six different attractions The third phase is the action phase in which For each corresponding die symbol you can in three different sizes, plus five different you place the dice you chose accordingly. return 2 Dirt markers. With the last available Stands ins four copies each, all of those The turn order is determined by the turn or- symbol you can play bonus cards to acquire come as three-dimensional equipment that der markers you took in the previous phase. some money. Cards relate to rides, Stands, must be assembled. Each die can only be used once and, so to colors or other combinations in the park of say, represents you resources. If you have a player. Variety is mostly in demand, but Each player is giving a starting area show- used/implemented a die you remove it from there are a few cards that aim for monotony. ing a 4x4 squares grid, six dice and a Pig, to the Pig. be more exact, a tile that depicts a Pig and As a sixth action you can choose any die which you use to place the dice you rolled. Each of the six kinds of actions, yes there are (not an empty side) and swap the die for Everybody is then dealt six cards from the six possible six actions, despite there being an additional park are of grid size 2x2. This stack of bonus cards and may keep three of only five symbols, can only be implement- you can do once or twice in a turn. This them. ed once in a turn, but sometimes there are supplementary area must be added to the multiple actions possible within one action, existing area with its total width or length. Then you pick one visitor robot of each of while you have corresponding dice symbols. Those extensions of the park areas are very the six colors and throw it into a bag, and There are no parameters in which order you important, because you run very soon into the fun can begin. The game is played over implement actions. You can build three dif- the problems of limited available building six rounds comprising four phases each. ferent sizes of rides, between one and three space is those extension are a far cry from squares. For each square you need a die. the consolation price that they are looked The first of those four phases is the dice upon for in the rules. phase. All players pick up their six dice and When constructing you must avoid contact roll them simultaneously to try to achieve between opposing colors or Stands, also Stands have a very important additional the necessary results as quickly as possible. not over corners, which makes the starting function: Each Stand you build always re- When you want to keep a die to use it you tile very small, because you only have four lates to a die symbol: Toilets double the set it aside on your Pig. It is important to corners. Rides of the same color must touch symbol for “cleaning up”, so that you can remember that, once a die is placed on the along a long or short side of a square and discard four instead of two dirt markers. The Pig, it cannot be re-rolled. As soon as all six are considered as one ride from this mo- Promotion Stand doubles the number of of your dice are placed on the Pig, you take ment on. Constructing several rides of the visitors, the Info Point enables you to place a turn order marker quickly. same size within one turn is forbidden. This visitors on rides that do not correspond in rule ensures that a player does not build all color. Those visitors must be put back into

Color codes, target groups, features, icons and GABIS are 2 ISSUE 463 / MARCH 2014 explained on page 5 and at the bottom of pages 34 and 35 www.gamesjournal.at STEAM PARK / 40 LINES FOR MEEPLES t OUR REVIEW

stock after the next income phase. Casino dice rolling phase and therefore I almost enables you to turn a die to the result you never have to take Dirt markers due to turn wish for and for Security you can put back a order but usually manage to get rid of some visitor, which you have drawn this moment, of those Dirt markers. back into the bag and draw a new one. The construction phase depends on what The fourth phase is the income Phase, in you rolled, and, especially in the later stages which you receive 300 Danari - this is the of the game, on what you could still con- currency in Roboburg - for each visitor in struct, because, especially in case of four your park. If you hold less than three bonus players, the Rides and Stands become cards you are given two new ones for each scarce quite quickly. The overall flow of the one he lacks, chooses one of them and dis- game is very smooth, provided that players cards the other one. Now you should have devote a bit of consideration beforehand of three bonus cards again. how to use their dice. The individual phases Now we are able to begin the next round. are short and implementation of moves evolves logically and they are done quickly. The game ends at the end of Round Six and Four Reference cards provide a summary of at that point you count your Dirt markers the most important moves and of the func- and check the table for the amount of Da- tions of the Stands, albeit written in very nari that you would have to pay to clean up small print. Here is was again, age breathing your park. Should any player, at this point, down my neck, as I joked with my wife “eye- own more than 30 Dirt markers, he has lost sight gets worse after 40!” the game in any case. Among all other play- 40 Lines for Meeples ers, you have won if you have most money The rules are written very clearly, offer Dagmar de Cassan, Editor-in-Chief left. Ties are resolved this way: First, if you enough examples and leave no question have more visitors in your park, and second unanswered. What I like especially about - this is a funny one - if you are first to touch the rules are the small cute and witty side the Cranio Logo on the back of the box. comments and due to those cheeky re- Once again our cover game is a game by Uwe marks the rules come across as entertaining Rosenberg, his latest creation CAVERNA. For beginners or families with younger chil- and are quite easy to read. Twelve pages The box of AGRICOLA is been filled to the dren you can leave out the special functions don’t frighten people away, because the brim with rules and components, and CAV- of the Stands and you score three Danari for pictures are big and, when you take a very ERNA does not fall short to it, but it is as full each Stand in your park. To avoid confusion close look, the rules could have been fit but a lot friendlier to players, because playing I would recommend to remove the corre- onto one A4 page. time is noticeably shorter. sponding bonus cards. What does it indicate, when the duration On the web you find the rules in other lan- of the game is marked on the box with 30 The group of three designers is not an un- guages, too, you just need to change pub- minutes per player. Setting aside the fact that known entity. Thy have already published lishers, because Heidelberger is the pro- there is no average gamer and that consider- two other games with Cranio Creations, ducer for the German-speaking countries, ing the optimum move can, with some play- named Dungeon Fighters and 1969. For and Iello for the Anglo-Saxon and French ers, take a perceived span of 30 minutes per some years now, the Italian company Cra- regions. turn and not per game, this way of estimating nio Creations has been publishing quite playing time surely is a reasonable move to interesting games and has presented them To create a three-dimensional game results, define the duration better. at Essen. At Essen 2012 they showed Dun- of course, in problems with the compo- Should we do it for all game? Can we indicate geon Fighter and were also involved in the nents, especially when you put your trust in a time per player for each game? creation of Terra Mystica and Sheepland cardboard. Setting aside the cuttings, which If you take Settlers of Catan, for instance - in carry their own potential for improvement, this game the duration will, regardless if three The game is made up from two quite dis- the cardboard components tear easily and or four are playing - surely depend a lot on tinctive parts, one is the hectic and chaotic the printed coating paper comes off at the the negotiation phases. Number of players phase of dice rolling, and the other one is edges. When you bend the cardboard com- will never influence playing time much, it the construction phase. In the dice phase ponents and assemble the pieces the card- will rather depend on the set-up of board, re- the emphasis is on speed and the ability to board comes off in layers and you must be sources and settlements and, as already men- keep track of what you want and need and, very careful when assembling the pieces - tioned, negotiation intensity of all players. of course, you also need that very necessary give this task to players with lots of patience Let’s wait and see if more games will indicate bit of luck. If you keep rolling the wrong and special motor skills in their fingers. duration per player, for a game playable for symbols for your needs and have the nec- 1 to 7 (!) players it definitely was a necessary essary control and overview to change your Unfortunately the money notes are printed and welcome information. tactic quickly to fit the symbols that keep unevenly. If one invests so much care and Do you like our WIN? If yes, please become a coming, you will find that the chance ele- painstaking detail in three-dimensional subscriber! We have a PayPal account, so the ment is put into perspective quite quickly. Rides one should also provide Visitor Ro- payment of € 6,00 for an annual subscription You can wield a lot of influence by setting bots looking like robots and not like minia- can be made easily and safely, see also up the right Stands. I love to play with two ture versions of the pieces used in “Heimlich http://www.gamesjournal.at. Casinos and without a Toilet, which enables & C o .”. Unser Games companion GAME BY GAME me to always being able to manipulate two 2014 is available since SPIEL at Essen: dice, which results in a quick finish for my As regards to graphics, opinions differ wide- http://www.gamescompanion.at 

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Color codes, target groups, features, icons and GABIS are 4 ISSUE 463 / MARCH 2014 explained on page 5 and at the bottom of pages 34 and 35 www.gamesjournal.at STEAM PARK / GABIS t OUR REVIEW

ly. I have heard everything from “sensation- and dirt, building activity produces Dirt, GAMES BUYER INFORMATION SYSTEM - GABIS al” to “well, that could have been done more each visitor wants to try certain rides, you nicely”. But this is the signature of Marie Car- do promotion with your stands, clean up, STRUCTURE douat, whose creations we could already take some risks and influence things. Those Each game review also features an evaluation which can admire in Dixit. For me, personally, they are details give a certain authenticity to the help you to find the game that best suits your tastes. The color accompanying each game title represents the USER too bleak, because even robot visitors could game and this in turn produces quite some Group. The headline also contains icons for age and number visit a theme park or fun fair in daylight. But flair that pulls you into the game, and sud- of players. The BAR in the evaluation box displays color codes for up to the graphic design neither hinders nor sup- denly you prefer to construct the Haunted 10 features of a game. ports game play itself. Castle or The Roller Coaster. USER GROUP We have defined 4 target groups (color accompanying the I was surprised by the tactical possibilities I can only congratulate designers and pub- head line) that the game offers, but yet a tactical ge- lisher on this lively and entertaining game, nius is not all-powerful in the game. Tac- it is harmonious all over, can be played by Kinder: Games for children an educational games. Adults can play tics also differ in relation to the number of all kinds of groups and a game never takes in a guiding function. players. In case of four players you must be longer than 60 minutes. You always love to Familien: Children and parents play together, all have the same fast as regards to Stands and small rides, sit down to recreate your Fun Fair and to try chance to win and have fun. because they become exhausted relatively new ways again and again to earn a little bit Freunde: fast, and rounds Five and Six are governed more money. þ Young people and adults play together as equals Experten: by the number of visitors you might be at- Kurt Schellenbauer Games with special demands on rules and playing time. tracted, who can discard what dirt and, Especially for game geeks most and foremost, which cards one is able Please note for the user groups Children, Family and to play. Friends: Children who love to play can be ahead of their peers! Please note that our target group “families” does not imply the classical concept of „family games“! Furthermore, To play the right cards will - when all is said our user groups can overlap. The choice of suitable games and done - also earn you most money, and always depends on your playing partners and your fun it is often better to play a card that yields a with games! Games that are especially eligible for Solo play or for 2 play- lower number of points and thus get rid of ers or Large groups of players are marked with an icon. it and hope to replace it with a better one. Money is only earned with visitors in your FEATURES Each game targets preferences for different features in a park or with cards and those are the two player, therefore each game is not suitable for each player. strategies for the game. On the tactical side We have listed 10 features players note when deciding on a game. Only if a player finds his preferred features in one depends on the result of the dice, but a game he will enjoy the game. The color code marks the the real element of chance is not in rolling INFORMATION dominant features. Educational games train the highlighted the dice, but in drawing the visitor robots PLAYERS: preference. Designer: Lorenzo Silva und Team 2-4 from the bag. Empty boxes: This feature is neclectable or not present Artist: Marie Cardouat AGE: One colored box: This feature is present, but not essential Our experience in all our games was that Price: ca. 35 Euro 10+ Two colored boxes: This feature is present and important in the game one always draws the wrong ones. There Publisher: Heidelberger 2013 TIME: Three colored boxes: This feature is dominant and essential may be six blue ones in the bag and five www.craniocreations.com 60+ Chance: others, but you don’t draw one single blue The game is influenced by dice, cards or any other form of on. For this calamity the stands Info Point random generator and Security provide assistance, in by opin- EVALUATION Tactics: Take decision, short-term planning, planning based on ion Info Point is the better one of the two. All Dice, development one move in all, the game works well for all numbers of Users: For families Strategy: Version: de players, but works best in case of four play- Think ahead, long-term planning, planning for several Rules: de en fr it moves ers. In-game text: no Creativity: Comments: The player has to provide words, phrases, images and other I cannot recommend or provide a sugges- Easy to learn * Also good for experienced creative efforts players * Nice component, good graphics * Knowledge: tion for tactic, I only know that monotonous Hectic dice phase * Clear flow of the game Cultural and educational knowledge, long-term memory Memory: building or too much of a variety achieves Compares to: Remember, learn by heart, short-time memory Rummelplatz, Coney Island the least results. Actions must be correlated Communication: with the bonus cards one holds. You must Other editions: Talk to each other, negotiate, inform take card when rolling dice that no dice are Cranio Creations, iello Interaction: Influencing each other, bluffing, auction pushed off the Pig tile or otherwise moved, Dexterity because the rules list restrictive parameters Motor skills Action: for using the dice. In a game for two you Body movement, balance and reaction take either Number One or Number Four of the turn order markers and, in cause of ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Version: The edition of the game on which the review is unexperienced players, Numbers Two and based Four. This makes keeping an overview of Rules: This lists the languages in which rules are available or your intentions even more important when are included in the game, often even more translations can be found on the web. choosing dice. In-game text: A YES marks a game with language- dependent components that cannot be played without The topic is fun, robots having a good time translation or knowledge of the language at the Fun Fair. Visitors produce garbage My rating:

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A new type of action was created for CAV- DWARVEN AGRICULTURE AND HUSBANDRY ERNA: the “FORGE”. During the game you will find 2 action cards where you may send one of your Dwarves to forge a “weapon”. CAVERNA You pay minerals and you get a numbered DIE HÖHLENBAUERN shield: the number is the “actual strength” of your warrior! Once you have a warrior you may send him to action spaces where When you open for the first time the big you have a mountain that you may dig to he can make raids to get more resources and heavy box of CAVERNA you immedi- find minerals and rubies and to create new ately have two sensations: caverns to host your family; on your left Pietro Cremona (1) - You paid something more than usual there is a forest that you may transform in A very interesting optimization game with a strong „buco- but you got “a lot” for your money pastures for your animals or fields to culti- lic“ feeling. You becomes really involved in the growth of your „dwarf“ family. And no „food stress“ as in Agricola. (2) - If you already played AGRICOLA in the vate your corn and vegetables. past everything inside is “familiar”. The “composite” board is used to perform Both sensations are true and after a few the different actions that will allow your games CAVERNA quickly entered in my dwarves to work, to feed and to increase or free actions: there are 4 “raid” cases and personal TOP TEN games. But before going the family as CAVERNA is basically another cards and they allow 1 to 4 raids. Each raid to the details let me first explain that I love “worker placement” game. You start with consists in comparing the strength of your AGRICOLA and I played it many times: for a two dwarves and therefore you may per- warrior with the possible booty that you whole year I used all the cards and I played form only TWO actions per turn, but you can get; at strength “2”, for example, you exclusively with experienced gamers, but later you may increase your family up to may get 1 Grain or 1 Sheep; at strength “10” thereafter I tried the “family” version and I seven dwarves, so you may arrive at seven you may get a Cow or a Large Pasture for was immediately hooked. I succeeded to actions per turn. “half price”; at strength “14”(the maximum) play Agricola also with my wife and other in- As in AGRICOLA you place one new card ev- you may get a new cavern for free, etc. Ev- experienced players and all appreciated the ery turn to increase the number and type of ery time that one of your warriors perform game very much and wished to play it again actions. a raid his strength is increased by”1” (until and again. I also played a lot the 2 players During the game you may purchase a cer- a maximum of 14). Raids are not addressed version (AGRICOLA: ALL CRETURES BIG AND tain number of tiles to build extra “rooms” against the other players (this is a pacific SMALL) especially with my younger son and that will allow you to increase your family game, after all) and their purpose is to give we liked the use of special tiles (instead of or some “shops” that will give you some bo- you something extra. the cards). CAVERNA is in effect a new ver- nus during or at the end of the game. But Another new rule is that of MINES: as I wrote sion of AGRICOLA for Families and it uses every new tile must be placed in a cavern before we have the opportunity to create tiles instead of cards. inside the mountain, and to place a cavern tunnels and caverns inside the mountain you need to perform a special action on the spaces of our personal board, but we may MATERIALS main board. also create mines on top of the tunnels if When you open the box of CAVERNA for the You start the game with two dwarves and we send a worker on a specific action case first time you should be prepared to spend few coins (one for players 1 and 2, two for of the board. There are two types of mines: a couple of hours to set all the materials. Lay player 3 and three for the other players). “ore” mines and “ruby” mines. Both give you down initially the seven large player HOME From now on you have to rely only on your Victory Points (VP) if you build them, and boards, the three Basic boards and the Ad- ability to get resources and food. There are both give you extra minerals or rubies if you ditional smaller ones (necessary to prepare no combats and the only interaction with place a worker in specific cases of the board. a board whose final dimension depends on the others players is to occupy the available With “ore” you may forge weapons for your the number of players). Then you have to actions spaces on the board. warriors or pay the cost for some special separate and organize the colored wooden The game proceed clockwise and players tiles. “Rubies” are a sort of “Jokers” and you and plastic pieces: 145 animals (dog, sheep, place one dwarf per round to immediately may spend them “when you wish” to get donkey, wild boars and cattle), 145 resourc- perform the selected action: take some re- resources, animals, terrains, etc. (a summary es (wood, stone, grain and vegetables), 35 sources (stone, wood, food. minerals, rubies, card explain all those possibilities). dwarves (in 7 colors), 21 stables (in 7 colors) etc.) and eventually take a cavern/tunnel tile plus 45 black Ore and 20 red Rubin gems or a field/pasture to place on the personal DOGS are a new type of animal introduced (plastic). board (mountain or wood). You may also in the game: their function is to survey Finally find some place for the plethora of get animals (initially only dogs, sheep or sheep on pastures that are still without hard cardboard pieces (furnishing and land- donkeys are available, but later wild boars fences. You may have in each pasture tile as scape tiles, food, coins, weapon markers, and cattle also arrive) but you need the right many sheep as are dogs, plus one. A good action cards, etc.). All with the usual nice space for them. Initially a couple of animals help, especially in the first turns of the game, “Lookout” graphics. may be hosted in your cavern, like in AGRI- to maintain sheep even if you do not have But nice materials alone do not guarantee COLA houses, but you are forced to prepare yet the wood necessary to build fences. a good game, so let’s see how all that works pastures, stables, etc. before being able to start a veritable breeding. During play some Finally there is a variation of the Turn Ac- THE GAME special cards will be discovered and used tion Cards: seven round cardboard tokens For everyone that already played AGRICOLA to increase your family, but do not forget are placed on the last seven spaces of the the following notes will be easy to under- to build in advance new caverns and new turn track. Every time that an action card stand as the mechanics are very similar. You rooms for the new members or they will im- is placed on those spaces the tokens are have as usual your personal board but this mediately ... die. overturned and you know if you have to time it is divided in two parts: on your right feed your dwarves in that turn or if you have

Color codes, target groups, features, icons and GABIS are 6 ISSUE 463 / MARCH 2014 explained on page 5 and at the bottom of pages 34 and 35 www.gamesjournal.at CAVERNA t OUR REVIEW

some penalties when you harvest. Those then fence them as early as you get the op- ritory has 12 “wood” spaces and 12 “moun- tokens add some suspense to the game portunity. Sheep can be hosted also in pas- tain” spaces, so you have to accurately pro- and oblige the players to maintain a little tures that do not have fences, provided that gram how to use ALL those spaces. A “big” reserve of food ... just in case! you have bought enough dogs. Dogs are a fenced pasture need TWO adjacent green “bonus” given in the same Action space that spaces to be built so the best solution could AGRICOLA players will remember the con- is used to add furniture to one of your cav- be to build FOUR double tiles (pasture plus tinuous “stress” that they experiment all erns, so when you have enough resources field) and FOUR single green tiles (that you along the game because they have to find to make a Dwelling add a dog to your board: get for 2 ruby each). You may then fence food to feed their farmers: luckily getting they do not need specific spaces as the oth- FOUR big pastures (16 VP) where you may food is not such a difficult task in CAV- er animals, so you have nothing to worry host 4 animals each (8 with a stable) while ERNA and you do not need any special and you may even accumulate many of you still have four fields for your grain and items (kilns, kitchens, etc.) to increase your them. In a couple of our test a player arrived vegetables. Inside the mountain you may food capacity. In our games we never had to own up to 7-8 dogs and he used them work in a similar way, but you have to re- a real problem in feeding our workers, but widely to host 8-9 sheep in a small pasture. member that you need at least 4-5 caverns: of course you must always keep an eye on Donkeys may be placed ONLY in mines, so 2-3 of them are to build dwellings for extra your reserves. they are not so popular: but if the oppor- dwarves while the other are for special tiles. In summary every TURN is composed of tunity arises to take the available donkeys Knowing that each “ore” mine can be built a different number of rounds and in each you may quickly transform them in food (1 only on two adjacent tunnels, you know in round you may place a worker on the board donkey = 1 food; 2 donkeys = 3 food). Do advance that you practically will be limited to do something. You have to prepare fields not forget that at the end of each “harvest” to a couple of “ore” mines (6 VP) and another where you may sow grain or vegetables and turn you will get a FREE animal if you already couple of “ruby” mines (8VP). to cut the forest to create pastures where have two or more of that type, so use the Ex- you will breed sheep, cattle and boars. Pas- peditions to purchase the animals that you Finally we have the “special tiles”. I do not tures must be closed with fences and you need to form at least a couple. Do not forget wish to bore you here with a list of all the create fences only by getting wood. Inside that you may get a couple of Boars covering possible VP that you may get with those the mountain you may create tunnels and two specific cases on your Forest. tiles, but in general you get VP if you have caverns: tunnels will generate mines, while The second most important source of VP some kind of materials or a certain number caverns are used to increase the family are the mines and fenced pastures: each of armed dwarves or rubies or ore, etc. If members and to purchase extra furnishing. “ore” mine grants 3 VP, while each “ruby” you are “late” in one of the above strategies mine gives 4 VP. Each small fence grants 2 (animals and pastures/caverns) you may CAVERNA does not use cards (like Agricola’s VP while each big one gives 4 VP. Your ter- eventually concentrate on special tiles and Occupation, Major or Minor Improvements, etc.) but you have the possibility to pur- chase tiles to improve your performances. Four double face small boards (90x295 mm) show you what is available and the cost to purchase it: face 1 shows 27 differ- ent types of tiles while face 2 shows 48 of them (and it is suggested with 6-7 players). The most used are “dwelling room” ORANGE tiles: each of them may host an extra dwarf and you cannot “generate” a new worker without having a dwelling ready for him. To install a dwelling you first need an empty cavern inside your mountain, then you have to go to the right case with one of your workers and pay 4 wood and 3 stone to get it. Each dwelling also grants you 3 VP at the game’s end. “GREEN” tiles are mainly Arti- sans that give special bonus to their owners (extra resources, discounts to purchase oth- er tiles, extra spaces for your animals, etc.), while “YELLOW” tiles are mainly “shops” to transform resources in food or to get special bonus at the game’s end. At the end of the last turn the players trans- form in GOLD (Victory Points) all their prop- erties and the higher scorer will be the win- ner.

COMMENTS The main source of VP are the animals as you get 1 Gold for each of them (including dogs): therefore you have to try to prepare very early in the game some pastures and

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try to maximize the use of 2-3 of them. Do not forget also that some Action Cards will SPELEOLOGY FOR AMATEURS allow you to get Gold (1 Gold = 1 VP) from different resources (for example giving “ore” for “gold and food”, 3 gold instead of build- THE CAVE ing, etc.) and additional gold may arrive POTHOLERS IN CAVES through expeditions (from level 6 on). As it happens in AGRICOLA you lose VP if you have some empty spaces on your per- You have always wanted to be a speleolo- tanks are really used up when used and so sonal board or if you do not have all kind of gist? You learned to dive in freezing water? the backpack empties in the course of the animals. Have learned to spot when carbon monox- game. A raft in your backpack offers a great ide is satiating the air instead of oxygen? variety of opportunities to cross water. As So what to say as a final comment? My You love narrow gorges and dark gaps? can be expected, you can use photographic friends and I appreciated very much CAV- Then this is the right place for you! equipment more than once. That’s some- ERNA and everybody affirm that it is a step thing, for sure, as you only need one space forward, compared to Agricola. Easier to The Cave is a game for 2-5 speleologist in the backpack for the photo equipment play, no “food” stress, not too many cards to who explore the underground universe of a and one for the raft. And yet some play- read and understand (and no extra decks to large cave system. At the start of the game ers leave both those things behind in the purchase ...). there is only a cave entry with a few start- camp. There is a separate area on the player The game is very “logical” and the rules ing shafts or ducts - their number varies are really very clear, with lot of examples, from three in case of two speleologists to Monika Dillingeróva frequent reminds for detailed rules of par- six shafts for five speleologists. Each player A thrilling game with friends that plays differently each ticular actions (something like “for more stuffs his backpack with necessary equip- time and offers a different challenge each time information about the use of XXX go to ment. There are rubber rafts, photographic page YYY”) and a detailed summary about equipment, oxygen tanks, ropes and food the Action spaces on the board, the Action rations. You can even take along a tent to board representing stores in a camp set up cards and the special tile. set up a camp with equipment somewhere in the cave system. But those stores must in the depths of the mountain. be fetched from the entry and taken to the A very very good game. þ camp…. Pietro Cremona The game itself comprises cave tiles, a lot of equipment markers, many, many mark- The second purpose of the player board is to ers which you acquire for overcoming ob- couple actions with action points (AP), just as INFORMATION stacles and other feats, player boards and we have seen it in the classic Tikal. In his turn PLAYERS: figurines for speleologists and camp tents. a player has 5 AP which he can allocate any- 1-7 Designer: Uwe Rosenberg The Cave tiles are divided into four groups of way he wants. To explore the cave you must Artist: Klemens Franz AGE: tiles, according to their backsides. For each place tiles. To place a cave tile costs you 1 AP Price: ca. 60 Euro 12+ number of players you randomly remove and you must be positioned at the edge of Publisher: Lookout Games 2013 TIME: some cave tiles. The remaining cave tiles a tile that you have explored already. You www.lookout-spiele.de var are introduced into the game one after the draw a cave tile from the stack and place it in other and their random grouping results in a congruency with your position. Reminds one EVALUATION game that remains challenging all the time. of Carcassonne, somehow. Doesn’t it? If you The tiles show different kinds of passages cannot place the tile you take a Blind Alley Development, worker placement and crossings, and there are a number of tile and place this instead. To enter a new Users: With friends obstacles in the shafts. There are three levels cave tile costs you yet another AP. For ob- Version: it Rules: de en fr it of shaft constrictions, called squeezes, and stacles you have to pay a surcharge, but as a In-game text: yes there are water areas, landmarks and abyss- compensation the first player to overcome Comments: es. To be able to cross all those obstacles an obstacle is rewarded with a marker that Loads of components * Topic based on you should have the respective equipment Agricola * Clear concise rules * Takes approx. scores victory points at the end of the game. 30 min per player with you. This is the purpose of the player Compares to: boards. Water can be crossed with a raft. The raft Agricola, Ora et Labora can be inflated, used, deflated and re- Other editions: At the start of the game you put equipment packed into the backpack. This complete 999 Games, Lacerta, Filosofia, Homoludicus, Mayfair, uplay.it on your player board. But take card, there is procedure costs you only one additional AP. limited space available, a mechanism that (What a pity that you passed on bringing reminds one of Bakong. You should carry a the boat). But, should you want to acquire good variety of things, space is limited and the water obstacle reward for the lake you don’t forget that a speleologist is human need to dive and for this you need oxygen and needs to eat sometimes. The longer tanks. The price for using them is 2 AP and such an explorer stays away from cave entry spending one oxygen tank. How nice that or camp the more space is taken up by food in they come in a double pack! You can also the backpack. The more food the less equip- dive to cross water, if you did not bring your ment. The less equipment the fewer opportu- raft in your backpack, just divesting you of nities to explore the cave. Thus the filling of another 2 AP surcharge and one oxygen your backpack is the first obstacle or chal- tank.

My rating: lenge in the game. Food, Rope and oxygen

Color codes, target groups, features, icons and GABIS are 8 ISSUE 463 / MARCH 2014 explained on page 5 and at the bottom of pages 34 and 35 www.gamesjournal.at THE CAVE t OUR REVIEW

Landmarks (Ötzi’s skeleton or other such tion you need to use ropes for going down Monika Dillingeróva things) should be photographed. IF you did and for going up. not bring photo equipment it is usually not INFORMATION worth your while to enter such a tile. And Each marker that you collected during the PLAYERS: again only the first one to do so is rewarded game earns you victory points at the end of Designer: Adam Kałuza 2-5 and takes the marker, but pays 1 AP sur- the game, in relation to the number of sur- Artist: Jarek Nocoň AGE: charge. Well, taking pictures in the dark of a charge action points that you had to spend, Price: ca. 30 Euro 10+ cave takes time, and you need suitable equip- between 2 and 5. There is also a scoring of Publisher: Pegasus Spiele 2013 TIME: ment. And no, your mobile phone, even if it is majorities in markers of certain categories www.pegasus.de 90+ the latest model, does not suffice at all. After (water, rope, picture, constriction). taking pictures of sundry bones and such A basic requirement to score points is to be things the respective tile is treated as an able to make your way out of the cave sys- EVALUATION empty shaft tile. tem again. At the end you should not be too Tile placement, collecting Constrictions also cost action points, if you far from the exit. After placing the last cave Users: With friends want to enter such a tile - between one and tile or of a blind alley tile instead of a cave Version: de Rules: de en it pl three of them, depending on the level of tile you have exactly three rounds in which In-game text: no constriction. All have to pay that want to you must make it to the cave entry. When a Comments: pass, but only the first to do so acquires the player does not manage to reach the entry Good mix of well-known standard mecha- nisms * Topic nicely implemented * Offers a marker. And the shaft remains a squeeze until he is considered to be lost in the caves and new challenge with each new game the end of his life. Häh? I’m sure the shaft is not his markers are not scored. This final part Compares to: alive! of the game can take time, because nobody Carcassonne, Tikal, Bakong and others wants to speed up the end. This was the point Other editions: A final kind of obstacle is provided by preci- where the thrill level suddenly took a drop. All Rebel.pl, uplay.it pices or descents. The shaft keeps falling by players simply bided their time, nobody dared 25 m. When you have turned up and placed to go too far into the caves … a descent, you need a rope and one AP surcharge to climb down the precipice. As The Cave plays very differently in each new a reward you get the rope marker from the game. We have also tried to work in “double tile and you mark the depth that you have harness”. When a single player draws the reached. On the next entry of this tile the necessary tiles he can win. If he did not have rope is already in place and the tile is only the luck of the draw the teams of two play- entered to advance or to reach a new level ers were more successful. But in the second of depth. From time to time you connect half of the game even such team mates higher and lower levels within the cave sys- must find their own route.þ tem. Oh, and by the way, on such a connec- My rating:

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good quality and functional. And there are MAGICAL ART OF COMBAT, FANTASTIC CREATURES also score tracks and and a target tableau included. The rules are, as usually is the case with Czech Games Edition, a pleasure to DIE ARENA VON TASH KALAR read. But due to the different colors for the CHEERING SPECTATORS, STRONG OPPONENTS different versions of the game they can at times be a bit confusing.

When I saw the first images for Tash-Kalar, The enthusiasm of the spectators increases The game is intended for 2-4 players. The I was not really taken with them. Only the which each magnificent creature that we cardboard markers, our Kalarite stones, name of the designer, Vlaada Chvátil, lured cause to appear and also with each oppos- come in four different colors and they are me to on to take a closer look at the game, ing Kalarite stone that we destroy. The spec- marked with a single weapons symbol for which had received good reviews in Essen tators roar when we have weakened our op- and on BBG. Pictures showed a board, simi- ponent to the point that his last resort is to Heinz Frühwirth lar to a Chess board, together with a few red light a magical Flare in order to have at least Very interesting card-driven board game offering easy and green squares, a few card board mark- some magical energy in the Arena. access and lots of in-game depth. Decidedly worth to take a look at! ers and a stack of cards. A strategic position game was mentioned again and again, or a But we need to take care. What if that was card-driven kind of Chess. Well, nothing for only a tactical move to seem to be weak- recruits and with a double symbol for he- me, or so I thought…. ened to then use the Flare to summon even roes. Special markers with an additional leg- more powerful creatures? Is he now retali- ends symbol represent the Kalarite stones A few weeks later I held a game with an ex- ating with full force and we have nothing of the summoned legends. ceedingly beautiful cover in my hands, on much left to counter that? It has happened which two imposing fantasy creatures were often that an opponent you seemed already The cards come in four sets, each includ- shown to be fighting each other in an arena, defeated has turned the table with the help ing 18 cards with this number of different the Arena of Tash-Kalar. of a cleverly lighted Flare and acquired the creatures, and are assigned to four differ- laurels of a winner. ent Schools of Magic. The cards show pat- In the game we represent magicians, who terns of how the Kalarite stones must be ar- try to place stones made from Kalarite, So the battle goes this way and that until ranged to summon the respective creature, which is concentrated magical energy, in there is only one winner at the end …. the patters represents the summoning spell the Arena in a way that distinctive different for a creature. patterns emerge. Those patterns summon Components fantastic creatures like Gryphon Riders, Fire Well, I have to admit that I have fun with the The Legends cards are not needed for the Dragons or Centaurs. These creatures can game, despite the fact that the board looks introductory games, they work like the crea- then get involved in the conflicts. When like a spotted chess board at first glance. ture cards, but have a more complex com- they are done with their actions they disap- Despite the magical Kalarite stones being position and the creatures are more difficult pear and leave their mark in the arena in the only cardboard markers. But the cards are to summon. guise of more Kalarite stones. ingeniously drawn, the components are of The Flare cards offer up to two additional actions, when a player should be under too much pressure from his opponents. Those actions vary from the placement of an addi- tional stone to the resolving of an additional action.

Easy access The basic rules are explained rather eas- ily and quickly. Each player is given a set of cards for “his” School, shuffles them and draws three cards from this deck. He also takes the markers in his color and, in the complete game, a Flare card and two Leg- ends cards.

Each player has two actions in his turn, for which he can choose from the following op- tions and he can combine them in any way he wants: Place a single stone (or recruit) or summon a creature.

You can only place a stone on an empty square of the board. You can only summon a creature when the placement of your stones corresponds to the pattern depicted on one of the cards in your hand, whereby

Color codes, target groups, features, icons and GABIS are 10 ISSUE 463 / MARCH 2014 explained on page 5 and at the bottom of pages 34 and 35 www.gamesjournal.at DIE ARENA VON TASH KALAR t OUR REVIEW

the pattern can be rotated or mirrored. to control the middle area of the board or The game ends at the end of the round in When you have a congruence of a pattern, to form a connection across the Arena with which a player has drawn his last cards or you can usually place a hero marker onto your stones. In the Duel and The Death- - in the High Form - when the nine victory the place of summoning and implement match Melee you score points for destroy- points have been achieved. the action that is listed on the card. This ing opposing Kalarite stones. might be a battle jump in which a stone is You must try it out! relocated to another square of the board In the Duel for four players two teams op- and destroys stones of the same or lower pose each other, whereby each team is The 30 minutes that are given for the dura- value there, or a standard move, in which given two Legends cards. You can involve tion of a game can only be achieved in the a stone moves onto adjacent squares and your partner into your own turn by hand- simple variant without Legends, otherwise only destroys stones of lower value. So you ing control and both Legends cards to him. you should plan for an hour in the Two-Play- try to place the stone in corresponding pat- Your partner can then only place remaining er mode and for the team game. ters to summon as many creatures as pos- recruit pieces or implement left-over effects, sible and to use their actions. but he can maybe plan and prepare better The battle for three or four individual com- for his own turn. This could enable him to batants surely takes longer, as a plan can go A Flare can be ignited when one or both begin with the summoning of a Legend awry quickly due to opponents’ actions. conditions that are listed on the card are ful- which can have devastating consequences Tash-Kalar is definitely not a game for each filled. That would be, for instance, to have x for the opponent. and every player. If you look for a fantasy heroes or y stones less than your opponent. game with pretty figurines you will only find If this is the case you can implement one or Those three versions can each be played in a them here depicted on the cards. For begin- two additional actions. Then the card is dis- simpler variant without the use of Legends, ners the game is too deep, for family gamers carded and a new one is drawn at the end of but either with or without Flare cards, and it is too tactical, despite simple core rules. the turn. This is one of the game-propelling each of those versions play differently. So Experienced gamers and fans of complex elements in Tash-Kalar and can swing a that you really have three different games games will find a game that fits their bill. game that you thought lost already. with three levels of difficulties for each For such players the game is fun with any game, all in one box! number of players and, when opportunity Several ways to play and variants offers, you should try a simple variant for a Players, who do not like combat games at first game!þ The game can be played in three different all find their game in the High Form of Tash- Heinz Frühwirth ways. In the High Form you try to acquire Kalar, casual players and beginners can be nine victory points as quickly as you can, spared the additional rules for Flares and by completing different task - for instance Legends. INFORMATION PLAYERS: Designer: Vlaada Chvátil 2-4

Artist: David Cochard AGE: Price: ca. 30 Euro 13+ Publisher: CGE / Heidelberger 2013 TIME: www.heidelbaer.de 30+

EVALUATION

Tactical, position Users: With friends Version: de Rules: cz de en fr it In-game text: no Comments: Fantastic design * Standard components * Three games, each in three levels of difficulty Compares to: Chess, Kamisado, Go and all games with pat- tern formation for results Other editions: Cranio Creations, Hobby Japan, iello, Z-Man My rating:

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sizes. Those 2 cm cannot really be an en- NOT ONLY FOR PEOPLE WITH A „GREEN“ THUMB“ ticement to buy! In the box there is a board representing a fenced garden, partitioned into 36 squares. Indicators for rows and GARDEN DICE columns, in the guise of dice pips, enable GARDINING ON A GAME BOARD one to exactly define each of the individual squares. Outside the fence the board shows

Spiel ‘13 was rather productive and shone ambience connected with the topic. Very of- Rudolf Ammer with games from “Amerigo” to “Yunnan” and ten a topic is rather artificially superimposed A game that provides real garden ambiance both as then there were some high carat jewels like on the mechanisms. Take the highly praised regards to components and to game play, a definite family „Glasstraße“, „Madeira“, „Russian Railroads“ “Russian Railroads”, for instance, which I per- game. etc.. The consequences for me were notable sonally like exceedingly well and which is in the weight of my luggage on the way an excellent game in my opinion, but which a Kramer track, in the shape of a stone tile home as well as by the gaps in my wallet. has about as much to do with Russia as a garden path. Six squares within the fence Aside from the lists of top games I have fish has to do with riding a bicycle. The three are marked with a star, I will come back to found another game that prompted me to terminal stations could as well be Bregenz, the meaning of it later, because now more write a review: Klagenfurt and Gmünd. But ÖBB for a title on the box content: The essential compo- probably is not very attractive. In Garden nents of the game are 50 tiles, printed on Meridae Games is a young American pub- Dice you really rather plausibly plant, water both sides, showing a seed on one side and lisher, founded in 2012, whose first and only and - after successful growth - harvest. the ripe plant on the other side, represent- game so far is “Garden Dice”. I also do not ing five different kinds of vegetables. know about any other game by the design- But now for the game itself: The box for- er of “Garden Dice”, “Doug Bass”. mat resembles that of “Trans America”, but There are pumpkins, carrots, tomatoes the exact measurements are 2 cm longer (Paradeiser in Austria), artichokes and egg- Why “Garden Dice”, then? Well, I simply like on each side, just long enough to NOT fit plants. It is the task of all players to first sow games that manage to get a topic across into my shelves. I really can’t figure out why or plant the seeds, to water them to turn and to let players experience the flair and publishers insist on using ever-new box them into vegetables by turning the tile

Color codes, target groups, features, icons and GABIS are 12 ISSUE 463 / MARCH 2014 explained on page 5 and at the bottom of pages 34 and 35 www.gamesjournal.at GARDEN DICE t OUR REVIEW

over to the other side, and finally, to harvest, the victory point track. Each vegetable that The game ends when the last seed tile is that is, take the tiles off the board again. In was placed on a square marked with a star taken out of general stock. The player who the top left-hand corner of the tiles num- is marked on the track with its double value. triggered the end finishes his turn. bers indicate the different values of the veg- Instead of planting or sowing a seed tile you etable varieties. Pumpkin (1) is not valued can use one of your special tiles, you own If you have now more than one seed tile much, whereas eggplants (5) are held in two of each kind. So, either Sun Dial/Scare- in your personal stock you lose five victory very high esteem. The rest of the content is crow or Hare/Bird. What is the advantage points for each surplus seed tile. The vegeta- made up by four wooden six-sided dice and from those tiles? ble hoarders are rewarded: if you have three a few special tiles like sun markers, stone identical vegetable tiles you get 10 points, tiles, and double-sided tiles depicting Hare/ With your own sundial on the board you can for 4 tiles 15 points and for 5 tiles 20 pints. Bird and Sun Dial/Scarecrow. The colors of adjust coordinates of dice results, either one A set of all five kinds of vegetables is worth players are indicated by wooden discs. For die by two pips, or two dice by 1 pip each, 15 points. them the garden ambiance has also been ascending or descending. When you roll a used, blue is represented by butterflies, red six you may turn over special tiles. A sundial Doug Bass has managed to create a very by Lady Birds, yellow by bees and green thus turns into a Scarecrow which protects family-friendly game with many real allu- by grasshoppers. One player aid board for all your own seed tiles in its neighborhood, sions; of course the luck of the dice roll is each player completes the equipment. The which are nine squares, because the diago- a deciding factor, but mechanisms have quality of the components, by the way, is nally adjacent squares are included. In case been introduced to reduce this element of excellent. of a harvest in the influence sphere of a sun- chance to a bearable amount. It is left to dial you earn a bonus of 3 victory points. players to act tactically clever or to turn the The Game In a garden you can also find some rather game into a harassing game by using the unloved animals. Those vermin are repre- unwanted animals. In my rounds the peace- Each player rolls all four dice and can choose sented by the Hare/Bird tiles. At first, the tile ful gardeners had the majority, but, as I said, from six action options. is placed as a Hare. The metamorphosis to both ways are possible. Bird can only happen when you roll a six, in You can use a die to place a seed tile, cor- analogy to the sundial. PS.: There is also a card expansion to the responding to the die result, from general game, which is - currently - sold out as is the stock into your own stock and mark it with Animals move - that is the final option to use core game. A small expansion “The Gnome” a wooden disc of your color. For each round your dice results. Depending on the result is included. þ the acquisition of the same kind of vegeta- on a die they move across empty squares Rudolf Ammer bles is limited to two pieces. until they encounter an opponent’s tile. With devastating results. Birds eat seeds, Another option is to use two dice results for Hares eat vegetables. You can only use this INFORMATION coordinates and place a seed tile from your option when you have a used color disc in PLAYERS: own stock onto the intersection square of your own stock. Designer: Doug Bass 2-4 column and row indicated by the dice re- Artist: Joshua Cappel AGE: sults. Tiles that have been eaten can be used in Price: ca. 30 Euro 10+ one of two ways. You either take it out of Publisher: Meridae Games 2013 TIME: Another choice would be to water a seed play permanently, give the disc back to its www.meridaegames.com 60+ tile that has already been planted into the owner and put your own disc on the animal. garden and so let it grow into a vegetable. Or you use the option to use a die that is still This action demands a die result that is unused and is of higher value as or of equal EVALUATION at least equal to the value of the seed tile. value to the eaten plant to take the tile into Tile placement Then a special effect comes into play: You your own stock as a seed tile. For this, too, Users: For families Version: en will know this, if you have your own gar- you need your unused disc in stock. Rules: de en fr den - if you are watering plants, water will In-game text: no find its own way. In the game this is ex- It is even allowed to eat more than one tile Comments: pressed by a chain reaction: Starting with in one turn, but not from the same player. Easy rules * Pretty, functional components * 2014 Game of the Year in Games Magazine * the currently “watered” tile all orthogonally Currently sold out adjacent seeds of a lower value than the How can you remove those unwanted eat- Compares to: starting seed tile begin to grow, regardless ers? You need a minimum of three dice for Zen Garden, Gardens whether they are your own seeds or those it. First, of course, the six, and then two dice Other editions: of opposing players. This system continues with numbers corresponding to the coordi- Currently none to the next tiles as well and should be well- nates where the animal is located. That’s the considered. time when your own sundial is valuable to improve the chances for the necessary re- You can also use your dice result to harvest. sults. You take a vegetable tile of the correspond- ing number off the board. This results in The last special tile is the sun marker. A sun the same chain reaction as happens when marker is not placed into the garden. It en- watering, albeit with the trigger player re- ables you once to re-roll all four dice or or ceiving one bonus point for each vegetable change one of the dice to any result you that an opponent can harvest due to the want. If the sun marker is not use, it scores 5 harvest action. The vegetable is placed into victory points at the end of the game. your own stock and its value is marked on My rating:

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the same value for attack in the INFORMATION card you placed and in the card PLAYERS: AGE: TIME: 8 MASTERS‘ REVENGE you placed it next to, then you 1-4 13+ 45+ MARTIAL ARTS HEAD-TO-HEAD have earned yourself another turn. Designer: L. Roudy, B. Sautter This alone would be interesting Artist: Ludovic Roudy Price: ca. 30 Euro Once again we engage in com- cards are compared to the two and quite new, but then there Publisher: Serious Poulp 2013 bat, head to head, and politically cards on the defender’s board are the effects of several tiles www.seriouspoulp.com correct in an Asia-flavored fan- and your attack is successful around, of card colors, of health tasy universe, using cards that when the sums attack and de- and health track, character EVALUATION show values for attack, defense, fense values are identical. Your abilities and rage …. This gets Martial Art, head-to-head damage and effects. A player opponent can block or coun- complicated - if you play the combat can draw cards and - if appli- termand the attack; at the end solo variant or a game for two, Users: With friends cable - relocate tiles or attack. To of your turn you implement the is is manageably, albeit need- Version: multi Rules: de en es fr attack you place a card next to effect of the card you discarded ing quite some calculations and In-game text: no one of your two cards on your at the start of your turn, even if considerations until you have Comments: board. The other, non-adjacent your attack was not successful. figured out the outcome of an Card comparison * Martial card is discarded. The remaining And should you have managed attack - should you have ex- Arts topic fits nicely pected a game of Wham, Bam, Compares to: Basically number compari- K.O. you will have to rethink. In son, but innovative new a game for three or four there is mechanisms no “all for all” but, you can only Other editions: attack your left neighbor. Currently none If you have patience enough to fight your way through you are rewarded with an innovative combat simulation, which does not work intuitively, but only with lots of cogitation and expe- rience. þ

timer. INFORMATION The usual rules for Activity ap- PLAYERS: AGE: TIME: ACTIVITY CODEWORD ply: Drawing without letters, 4-16 12+ var. GUESS WORDS TO ASK FOR LETTERS numbers or talking, Describing without using variations of the Designer: Catty / Führer term, and Pantomime without Artist: Arthur Wagner Price: ca. 12 Euro New edition for one of the most or ß can be chosen, those letters talking or including items in the Publisher: Piatnik 2013 interesting variants of the classic are written as ae, oe, ue and ss. room. www.piatnik.com communicative game: Activity The symbol die shows markings For terms marked with a * you Codeword. In this version with- for “Drawing”, “Describing” and play an open round, choose a EVALUATION out a board you must guess a “Pantomime”. The active player partner from an opposing team, Creative communication code word. of a team roll the die, draws a and all players can guess, as Users: With friends Each team secretly writes down card and chooses one of the two they also do for terms that are Version: de a word of 8 letters in its basic terms on the card correspond- printed in bold on your card. Rules: de In-game text: yes grammatical form, it may con- ing to the presentation method, When the term is guessed cor- Comments: tain any number of any letter of As usual the active player then rectly, the team asks the next New edition * Changed the alphabet with the exception try to make his team guess the team on the right, if the first let- components * Well-chosen of q, x and y. Words with ä, ö, ü, term within the run-time of the ter of the guessed term is in the terms * Variable playing time code word, and how often. If the Compares to: first letter was used already, you All editions of Activity can use the second one, etc. Be- Other editions: fore the start of a regular turn a Currently none team can give a guess and wins if the word is correct. A very good variant with nicely chosen terms; if you choose cleverly you can have your guess at letters in the code word confirmed. Still one of the best, if not THE best communication game. þ

Color codes, target groups, features, icons and GABIS are 14 ISSUE 463 / MARCH 2014 explained on page 5 and at the bottom of pages 34 and 35 www.gamesjournal.at AUF ZUM MÄUSENEST / AUFBRUCH INS ABENTEUER t PLAYED FOR YOU

When all cats are placed the INFORMATION competition for the inner circle PLAYERS: AGE: TIME: AUF ZUM MÄUSENEST begins: In turn all players roll the 2-4 5+ 20+ CATS CHASE MICE color die: You can replace an op- ponent’s cat on a spot the color Designer: Arwed Loquai rolled with one of you own cats Artist: not named Price: From the publisher A new interpretation of a stan- board for this chase using a sitting in the outer ring. If this is Publisher: Loquai Holzkunst 13 dard and familiar topic - cats color die. not possible you replace a cat in www.loquai-holzkunst.de are hunting mice, this time they First you use this die to place the outer ring with one of your are hunting directly for the nest. the cats in the game and you cats from outside the rings. A EVALUATION Each player is directing seven try to get as many cats as pos- cat that is replaced in this way is Placement, color dice cat pawns, which are all outside sible onto the inner ring of color always outside the rings, on the Users: For families the game board at the start of spots - when this ring is filled edge in the grass. Version: multi the game. The mouse is sitting you try to place your cats on the In case of two players you win Rules: de en fr it In-game text: no in the nest at the center of the outer ring of spots, and when the duel for the mouse’s nest Comments: circular game board, featuring this ring is filled you place the when you have five cats in the Familiar standard mecha- concentric circles. The lid for the cats outside the rings on the inner circle. In case of three or nism, nicely varied * Attrac- wooden game box is the game edge, that is, the grass. four players you need to place tive use of color die * Pretty components * Younger for of your cats into the inner children can play alone circle to win. Compares to: Loquai is carrying “Wood Art” Ludo and other placement/move- in its name and this motto is ment games using color dice Other editions: expressed by this game; a cute Currently none mouse, proud cats with their tails waving and a lovingly man- ufactured chest with colored corners holding an absolutely nice family game featuring at- tractively varied standard mech- anisms. þ

one incomplete ship for each INFORMATION animal. When you draw a Bal- PLAYERS: AGE: TIME: AUFBRUCH INS ABENTEUER loon card you can keep it, if you 2-4 6+ 15+ RACE OF HOT AIR BALLOONS have the corresponding basket card, red for dogs, turquoise for Designer: Eljan Reeden cats and grey for badgers. If you Artist: Peter Pfeiffer Price: ca. 5 Euro On a signal hot air balloon cards, Balloon cards and Target draw a Target card, you can lay Publisher: Haba 2013 with adventurous courageous cards; all cards are shuffled and it out open-faced or face-down. www.haba.de animals for passengers start a stacked face-down, each player When all balloons for are basket race around the world. But the is given a cogwheel. The active are collected, you can start a EVALUATION baskets can only ascend when player draws a card from the new one for this kind of animal. Card collecting, memo there are exactly as many bal- stack or from the set-aside ones Cards that you could not use are Users: For children loons of the same color as there and looks at it by himself. If it is a set aside face-down. Once in the Version: multi are travelers in the basket. You Basket card you can keep it and game you can hand in your cog- Rules: de en es fr it nl In-game text: no want to send off most travelers lay it out open-faced; it shows wheel and do another turn. Comments: and stop the game at the right how many balloons of the corre- If you place the third open-faced Nice topic, good mecha- moment. sponding color you need for the Target card, the game ends. For nisms * Enchanting illustra- The game features Basket basket to rise. You can only have each adventurer in your com- tions * First tactics from Target cards and discarded pleted baskets you score one cards * Variants listed point and win with most points. Compares to: “Aufbruch ins Abenteuer” offers Card collecting games a very pretty and cute card col- Other editions: lecting game with a nice topic Currently none and also first tactical moves with the timing of Target card placement and also from using of cards set aside by other play- ers in combination with his vis- ible cards of yourself hoping for their later use. þ

WIN The Games Journal now also available as eBook! www.gamesjournal.at For all information on that check our website. ISSUE 463 / MARCH 2014 15 PLAYED FOR YOU u BAM! / BANG! THE DICE GAME

BAM! card. You hand your selec- INFORMATION tion to the BAM! Master, in case PLAYERS: AGE: TIME: BAM! of several cards you stack them 4-10 16+ 40+ DAS SHOCKINGLY GOOD in the order they are meant to WORD GAME appear in the sentence. The Designer: S. Ackermann + Team BAM! Master reads out all com- Artist: Hans-Georg Schneider Price: ca. 20 Euro BAM!,- a short, concise, precise One player begins the game as binations, if necessary gram- Publisher: Pegasus Spiele 2013 word, used as a place-holder the current BAM! Master and matically adapted, and then www.pegasus.de für words. Words in this game turns up the top red BAM! Card. decides which combination he are printed on cards, to be Those BAM! cards carry a text likes best and hands one of the EVALUATION more precise, on 367 grey term containing one or several BAM!s, term cards to this player for a Word, party cards. Terms vary from “Obi- for instance “At a Party I only point. Finally, the Bam! Master Users: With friends Wan Kenobi” via “Angoraunter- need BAM! and BAM!” or “I am gives the red BAM! card to the Version: de wäsche” or “Bauchfreie Teenie- into BAM! and that is okay”, all of player whose combination he Rules: de In-game text: yes Kleidung” to “Stuttgart 21”. Ten course in German. And, BAM!, all liked least, for a penalty point. Comments: of those term cards are dealt to have grasped that all they have When all players have been New edition of [_blänk], each player, the rest is stacked to do is find the card or cards BAM! Master equally often - 2012 * For adults only * for a draw-pile. that go best with the text of the players decide - you win with Lots of “adults only” terms * 100% language dependent the highest total of points. * Only for fans of such And if your brain goes [_blänk], games it has remembered that BAM! Compares to: was presented under this name Apples to Apples, Out of the Box Other editions: in a minimal edition at Essen [_Blänk], e.conzept 2012 2012. It was funny, naughty, suggestive and full of sexual innuendo even then and this is how it is now! A well-made game on words for people who love that kind of games with un- equivocally ambiguous words with a weird touch. þ

and are resolved in the order of INFORMATION Arrow, Dynamite, Bull’s Eye, Beer PLAYERS: AGE: TIME: BANG! THE DICE GAME and Gatling, causing effects for 3-8 8+ 15+ SHOOT WITH DICE the active player, his neighbors or all players. For an arrow you Designer: M. Palm, L. Zach roll you take an arrow marker Artist: Riccardo Pieruccini Price: ca. 17 Euro Shootout in Wild West, using domly, then the Sheriff reveals instantly and can re-roll the die; Publisher: dv Giochi 2013 dice! As Sheriff, Outlaw, Deputy himself. Then characters are as- if you take the last arrow marker www.abacusspiele.de or Renegade you have the same signed, each player announces you trigger an Indian attack and goals as in the card game; the name and special ability and all lose one life per arrow marker EVALUATION Sheriff needs to eliminate Out- takes bullets = life points ac- they hold. Dynamite cannot be Dice, Wild West laws and Renegade, the Out- cording to the card. re-rolled, three dynamite end Users: For families laws must eliminate the Sheriff, The Sheriff begins, the others your turn and cost you a life. Version: multi Deputies must support the follow in turn: You roll five dice, Bull’s Eye hits your neighbor and Rules: en it de In-game text: yes Sheriff and assist him and the up to a maximum of three times, next-but-one neighbor, they Comments: Renegade must be the last man including setting aside and re- lose one life accordingly; Beer Very nice dice interpreta- standing. rolling of dice. Dice show sym- gives one life to a player you tion of Bang! The Card Those roles are assigned ran- bols that have different effects choose. Three or more Gatlings Game * Stand-alone game, yet many elements of Bang (machine guns) take one life nicely incorporated * High from every player but you and chance factor, but equally you can give back all your arrow high entertainment value Compares to: markers. If you lose your last life, Bang! for topic and characters, you are out of the game. otherwise all dice game with results Fast, cute, witty and somehow influencing all players fells like a real shootout in O.K. Other editions: Abacusspiele, Bard Centrum Gier Corral, the others comment, hope for Beer and are afraid of Arrows or Gatlings. Excellent fun for in-between, with the poten- tial for a slow-burner. þ

Color codes, target groups, features, icons and GABIS are 16 ISSUE 463 / MARCH 2014 explained on page 5 and at the bottom of pages 34 and 35 www.gamesjournal.at BAM! / BANG! THE DICE GAME BERSERK / CARRERA FLIZZ & MIEZ t PLAYED FOR YOU

or silver, elite cards only for gold. INFORMATION Then you turn up your cards on PLAYERS: AGE: TIME: BERSERK the board, so you know all your 2 / 4 13+ 60+ WAR OF THE REALMS opponent’s forces. To move creatures you shift creatures on Designer: I. Popov, M. Istomin the board, up to their maximum Artist: I. Sukhovey, S. Dulin Price: ca. 50 Euro Berserk is a Russian game and structed deck or from a deck of movement steps. Actions of a Publisher: Hobby World 2013 has been along since 2003, your own selection and place card are attack or using the abil- www.asmodee.de around 20 extensions were pub- those cards face-down on the ity of a card; after an action cards lished for this cousin of Magic board, according to the ar- are exhausted and tapped. Each EVALUATION the Gathering, featuring a story rangement given in the rules. creature has a basic strike, non- Cards, collecting, fantasy of Evil Creatures summoned by This board is basically decora- magical. To avoid damage you Users: For experts the Chief Evil which you must tion, cards could be simply laid can declare a Protector who Version: en find in his tower of Thul Bagar to out in rows and columns. Card fights instead of the originally Rules: en ru In-game text: yes destroy the web of souls. So far types are creatures, artifacts, attacked creature. Life points Comments: so Fantasy. areas and equipment; only crea- are influenced by attacks, spells Standard topic * Cata- At the start of the game you tures can move and have life or card effects; when a creature strophic rules * A game for choose troops from a pre-con- points. You buy cards for gold has more damage markers than specialists, needs immer- sion * The trouble is worth life points, it dies. When a player its while in the end loses all creatures, he has lost Compares to: the game. Collectible Card games with Fantasy If you like such games you topic and creature confrontation Other editions: should take a look at Berserk, Russian Edition, Hobby World but you must plan for some time to work your way into the game - the rules are catastroph- ic, patient specialists will how- ever be able to extract from it an interesting game with inter- actions and synergies between cards. þ

director advance the cat by one INFORMATION step. When the cat catches up PLAYERS: AGE: TIME: CARRERA FLIZZ & MIEZ with the car or the car reaches 2-4 5+ 15+ DAS RASANTE KINDERSPIEL “Stop”, the round ends. The line of car tiles is checked: for each Designer: K. Franz, H. Girke, D. Yu pair of non-corresponding car Artist: A. Resch, K. Franz Price: ca. 18 Euro Race cars hurtle race along the tors and move cat and/or car, halves the race car on the track Publisher: Stadlbauer Marketing 14 track in the nursery, curiously players switch roles for every moves backwards by one step. www.carreragames.com eyed by the cat which suddenly round. On a signal the driver When a car crosses the finish jumps into the track, races after lays out cars in a line joining tiles line the game ends after all EVALUATION the cars and pushes them off with car halves together. For players have been driver for the Race, dice, puzzle track. Who is fast and escapes each added tile he calls Wroom! same number of times, and you Users: For children the cat? and he himself or a race director win if you advanced furthest. In Version: de For the Beginners Game you use moves his car on the track by the Advanced Game you must Rules: de In-game text: no the board without speech bal- one step. At the same time the place car halves not only for col- Comments: loons. There is always a driver cat player rolls the cat die as fast or, but also pay attention to cor- Series: Carrera Tabletop player and a cat player, a third as he can, calls Meow! for a cat responding tires, helmet or dec- Games * Variants can also and fourth player are race direc- symbol and he himself or a race oration. In the Obstacle Game, be used by individual players to balance different sounds in the speech balloons ages * Excellent combina- are added to the game, they are tion of mechanisms * Com- ponents and mechanisms provide used to overcome obstacles on perfect race ambience the track by making the correct Compares to: sound! All race games, but this is an innova- Simply enchanting! Sounds, tive new combination of mechanisms components and game flow Other editions: Currently none combine for an excellent race simulation that quickly capti- vates children’s imagination! Loud, but nice! Carrera racing without a track, on a board! þ

WIN The Games Journal now also available as eBook! www.gamesjournal.at For all information on that check our website. ISSUE 463 / MARCH 2014 17 PLAYED FOR YOU u CHICAGO STOCK EXCHANGE / COPA

the exchange rate value by one. INFORMATION The rate for a commodity can PLAYERS: AGE: TIME: CHICAGO STOCK EXCHANGE only fall, never rise! When there 2-4 8+ 15+ TRADING AT THE STOCK EXCHANGE are only two stacks left you add the value of all your commodi- Designer: Pak Cormier ties according to the current Artist: Cyril Bouquet Price: ca. 11 Euro For this trading session there is a is placed randomly on a stack. As exchange rate and you win with Publisher: 1-2-3-games 2013 simple rule: I keep one commod- the active player you move the the highest total. www.blueorangegames.eu ity and I sell one commodity - if trader one, two or three steps In the expert version you move you sell you cause falling rates and then take the top commod- the trader any number of steps EVALUATION for this commodity. The values ity from the two stacks adjacent in clock-wise direction, but no set collection, changing rates for Corn, Coffee, Rice, Sugar and to the trader to the left and further than to the same com- Users: With friends Cacao can be anything from 6 to right. Of those two commodi- modity that you left at the start Version: multi 0, for Wheat from 7 to 1. ties you choose one to keep, the of the move. Rules: de en fr nl In-game text: no 36 commodity discs are shuf- other is sold to the bank, that is, A sophisticated little game, also Comments: fled and randomly stacked in simple set down next to the ex- good for families, but unfortu- Series “by Cirkle” * Badly 9 stacks, not necessarily of the change rate board. For the com- nately with very bad rules, at written, but simple rules same height. The trader marker modity you bought you reduce least for inexperienced players. * Very good game with minimalist components For instance, you must deduce Compares to: the starting value for the ex- Basically games on stock change rate markers from the exchange rates, first game in this fact that exchange rates can combination Other editions: only fall, despite rate variation Currently none being mentioned in the rules, which also indicates rises. When you have worked your way through the - short - rules, you will be rewarded with a good game that offers challeng- ing entertainment using sim- plest means. þ

beans: If you uncover the same INFORMATION amount of beans under two PLAYERS: AGE: TIME: COPA bowls you can add one of your 2-5 7+ 10+ DAS SCHALENSPIEL beans to one bowl and can then turn up another bowl, etc. In Designer: S. Mühlhäuser + Team Hopper for 2-5 players, ages 7+, Artist: Bernhard Kümmelmann Price: ca. 35 Euro Pit-and-pebble games - one of place four beans into individual you snip beans into bowls from Publisher: Steffen Spiele 2013 the old, classic game mecha- bowls, beginning in your own the edge of the table. If you snip www.steffen-spiele.de nisms: You distribute pebbles, bowl, then you put your bowl the 4th bean into a bowl, you beads or beans in bowls until onto the bowl where you placed take the bowl, if you have four EVALUATION the victory condition is met. the 4th bean. If you reach a bowl bowls, you win the game. th Game collection COPA is a game collection based with beans your 4 bean, you In Da Capo, a bluff game by Users: For families on this mechanism, all games take the beans. Four or more Fred Horn for 2-5 players, ages Version: multi use 18 wooden bowls and a beans in your own bowl earn 8+, you secretly bid 1-5 beans; Rules: de en es fr In-game text: no handful of beans. you an extra turn, five beans in if yours is the highest bid you Comments: Kala for 2 players, ages 10+: a bowl are returned to the bank. can put your beans into the first Elegant, classy components Each player moves his own bowl In Ronda for 2-5 players, ages bowl of the line, and all other * Four different games us- across the 4x4 grid of bowls. You 7+, you want to be rid of your beans bid are discarded. If you ing the same components * Different numbers of reach the final bowl you win. If players in each game * you are out of beans, you are out Attractive, well-made collection, celebrating 10 years of of the game. Should all go out, Steffen Spiele you win, if you got furthest in Compares to: your line of bowls. All variants of Hus, Mancala or Awale An elegant, abstract game fea- for components and mechanism of distributing pieces turing cleverly varied standard Other editions: mechanisms - a marvelous col- Currently none lection for the whole family; the most challenging game in it is Kala, using sophisticated tacti- cal elements. þ

Color codes, target groups, features, icons and GABIS are 18 ISSUE 463 / MARCH 2014 explained on page 5 and at the bottom of pages 34 and 35 www.gamesjournal.at DER HERR DER RINGE / DER KLEINE KÖNIG t PLAYED FOR YOU

to this. Most tasks are rather INFORMATION hard to resolve; even the rolling PLAYERS: AGE: TIME: DER HERR DER RINGE of the die for new cards has only 2-4 12+ 90+ FROM THE SHIRE TO MORDOR a chance of 1:6 for getting cards without approaching Sauron or Designer: Reiner Knizia loss of other cards. Each time Artist: John Howe Price: ca. 30 Euro On a main board and four ad- from task spot to task spot. The when a task is not resolved Sau- Publisher: Kosmos 2013 venture board, featuring loca- main board and all adventure ron advances. www.kosmos.de tions from the novel „The Lord of boards exactly denote, for each When he meets a character, this the Rings“, players try to get the task, what players have to do; character leaves the game; if he EVALUATION One Ring to Mordor, embody- each board sets them different meets the Ring Bearer, the game Cooperative adventure ing members of the Fellowship tasks. is lost for all players – in highest game of the Ring. Some tasks must be completed peril a Gandalf card might help. Users: With friends Characters move from one end by the group together, some of It is a rather challenging task to Version: de Rules: de en es fr it ru of a track towards Sauron, Sau- them by the active player alone. get the Ring Bearer to Mordor In-game text: yes ron advances towards them All tasks are resolved by discard- alive and to destroy the Comments: from the other end. On the ing of a given number of cards, One Ring; cooperation is indis- First edition 2000 * Fantas- boards only a marker is moved all players can contribute cards pensable and you need each tic implementation of the topic * Does not demand card of every player rather ur- knowledge of book or films gently and it is a big help if you to play * Excellent use of have a tactician among the play- cooperative mechanisms Compares to: ers who can perfectly coordi- Other challenging cooperative nate card effects. Published for games, e.g. Shadows over Camelot the first time in 2000 previous Other editions: to the films, the game is as fasci- 999 Games, Bard Centrum Gier, Devir, Editrice Giochi, Fantasy Flight nating today as it was then and Games, Hasbro, Hobby World, Kaissa, proof that cooperative games Stratelibri, Tactic can be wonderful, enticing and challenging - this is yet another new edition succeeding the 2011 edition. þ

can also take one of those cards INFORMATION instead of the top one from the PLAYERS: AGE: TIME: DER KLEINE KÖNIG stack. If you have collected all 2-4 3+ 10+ UND SEINE FREUNDE colors for your King & Friends card, you draw a new King & Designer: B. Naegele, K. Adlung Friends card. If someone cannot Artist: Hedwig Munck Price: ca. 12 Euro The little King and his friends King” each player draws a King draw a new King & Friends card, Publisher: Adlung Spiele 2013 want to paint a picture as a & Friends card and lays it down the game ends and you win with www.adlungspiele.de birthday gift for Aunt Röschen. open-faced. Then you draw a most collected color cards. From But unfortunately the friends suitable color card from any age 4 your play “Little King” and EVALUATION have lost track of the colors and stack and place it next to it. You must remember the cards on Color, memo players help to find them. All can take each color only once your card. “Big King” is intended Users: For children King & Friends cards are shuf- for each King & Friends card. for players of age 7+, you must Version: multi fled and set down grey side up. When there is no suitable color now remember not only the Rules: cz de en fr it pl In-game text: no Color cards are shuffled two and you draw a card from one of color from your King & Friends Comments: set down in two stacks, color the stacks and set it down next card but also the colors that you Variant for Buntbär & Co * side up. to the stacks. As soon as such collected. And for “Clever King” License topic * Four differ- For the variant “Hallo, little single cards are available you you also lay out the cards you ent versions for different age groups * Good roles * cannot use face-down and you Handy take-along size check a completed card before Compares to: setting it aside - if a wrong color Buntbär & Co, all memo games using is in the pack you must but it colors Other editions: back face down on the table to- Currently none gether with one of your correct cards. A typical Adlung game - short, concise and with lots of ideas and content and increasing de- mands in the versions; quickly explained and quickly played. þ

WIN The Games Journal now also available as eBook! www.gamesjournal.at For all information on that check our website. ISSUE 463 / MARCH 2014 19 PLAYED FOR YOU u DER LETZTE WILLE: GEFEUERT / DIE LOGIK-PIRATEN

chosen or drawn determines INFORMATION your starting capital and also PLAYERS: AGE: TIME: DER LETZTE WILLE: GEFEUERT the kind of job cards used in 2-5 12+ 75+ INHERIT ONLY WHEN JOBLESS! this game; one job card is dealt to each player. Those job cards Designer: Vladimir Suchý generate income in each round Artist: Tomáš Kučerovský Price: ca. 25 Euro Your rich uncle is dead! You can viser actions. and must be down-scaled until Publisher: CGE / Heidelberger 13 only inherit if you prove that you In this expansion lawyers have your income is reduced to Zero www.heidelbaer.de can enjoy life and spend money. found a new clause in the will - and you are fired. Downscaling In a maximum of seven rounds it is not enough that you have can be done with cards provid- EVALUATION you first plan your day and then the least money of all potential ing corresponding markers or Card management place your adviser, who deter- heirs, you must prove that you by sending messenger boys. Users: For experts mines the number of cards that can lose your job. If you still The other big difference to the Version: de you draw, the messenger boys want to inherit you play with base game results from the new Rules: cz de en fr pl In-game text: no that you can place, and the ac- three messenger boys and use planning board; this board has a Comments: tion that you can do. Then you the rest of the new components gap where eight planning tiles Elegant expansions * Clever use the messenger boys for ac- according to instructions in the are placed; they are double- strategy needed to deal tions and then resolve the ad- rules. The “Last Will” card that is sided and thus provide lots of with additional income * Handling of the planning different starting situations. board difficult due to gap All in all this expansion is an ex- Compares to: cellent extension for “Last Will”, Mankomania and other games where fitting seamlessly into the core you must get rid of money Other editions: game, offers a new action “mar- CGE, Iello, Rebel.pl, Rio Grande riage” and demands a lot more strategy in order to get rid of the additional income. This is a real expansion that intensifies and varies mechanisms instead of adding or superimposing new ones. þ

you manage to do so - you have INFORMATION three tries - you take a treasure PLAYERS: AGE: TIME: DIE LOGIK-PIRATEN tile and decide if you want to 1-4 5-8 30+ PUZZLES, TARGETS, TREASURES continue and solve another puzzle, and so on. Should you Designer: Wolfgang Dirscherl turn up a jewel of a color that Artist: Silveira Gabriela Price: ca. 14 Euro Pirates are treasure hunting should be placed to replace the you already collected, you must Publisher: Ravensburger 2014 again, but only by figuring out question mark? If you have de- stop and lose all jewels already www. ravensburger.de puzzles do they know which cided on a symbol you turn the collected in this turn. When all cave they must hit with the can- card over and check the solu- jewels have been claimed, you EVALUATION non ball to acquire treasures. tion. If you are wrong, the turn win if you collected most of Learning, logic In the basic game Schatzjagd passes to the next player. When them. Users: For children you want to win as many jewels you have found the correct solu- In the expert version Seeunge- Version: de as you can: You take one of the tion, you search for the symbol heuer ahoi! there are more Rules: de In-game text: no puzzle cards, chose one of the on the Island card and try, with valuable jewels and also sea Comments: rows - #1 and #2 are easier, #3 the help of the ship, to roll the monsters, which swim around Series “spielend Neues and #4 are more difficult - and marble into the cave indicated in the waters and provide obsta- lernen” * In cooperation try to find out which symbol by the correct symbol. When cles for your cannon ball marble. with “TransferZentrum für Neurowissenschaften und You must aim past the monsters Lernen” * Pretty compo- or push them aside with a first nents that quicken interest shot. and motivate to play Compares to: This game in the series “spielend Other educational games on logic Neues lernen” trains pattern rec- and pattern completion ognition and completion, but Other editions: also dexterity and, what’s even Currently none more important, it is good fun to find out if monkey or par- rot complete the pattern or to handle the marvelous ship and to push aside sea monsters! þ

Color codes, target groups, features, icons and GABIS are 20 ISSUE 463 / MARCH 2014 explained on page 5 and at the bottom of pages 34 and 35 www.gamesjournal.at EIERTANZ / ELEMON t PLAYED FOR YOU

an egg, if you have one already. INFORMATION Take care, the two symbols for PLAYERS: AGE: TIME: EIERTANZ Shout and Hush are very simi- 2-4 5+ 10+ RUN, CROW, DROP EGGS, CATCH EGGS! lar! When there is no egg left in the box, you take one from any Designer: Roberto Fraga player of your choice, he cannot Artist: Martina Leykamm Price: ca. 13 Euro You set out the box holding keeps it. For the Egg pinching refuse. So far so “yawn”. The fun Publisher: Haba 2013 9 yellow plastic eggs and 1 symbol all try to snatch the red is in the use of the egg that you www.haba.de wooden egg as well as a red ac- dice, whoever succeeds, takes grabbed. If you got an egg you tion dice and a white where-to- an egg from the box, When The must roll the white die and place EVALUATION place-the-egg dice. Egg Dance was rolled all get up the egg accordingly - under Agility, dice The active player rolls the red and run around the table, who- your chin, in an armpit, between Users: For families action dice: For the hen you take ever sits down first takes an egg your knees, in your bent arm or Version: multi an egg; for the Egg bouncing from the Box. For The Big Shout between shoulder and cheek Rules: de en es fr it nl In-game text: no symbol you take a plastic egg you get an egg if you are first - and hold it there, even when Comments: from the box and drop it on the to shout “Cock-a-doodle-doo”. running around the table due New edition, first edition table from a height of approx. 5o If you crow mistakenly when to the Egg Dance symbol. If you 2003 * Pretty, functional cm. Whoever catches the egg, The Big Hush is rolled you lose would have to place a second components * Trains agility and coordination of move- egg in the same spot or roll the ments joker you decide yourself where Compares to: you put the egg. If you drop an Eiertanz 2003, other games where you hold items with body parts and egg, the game ends and you move have lost, all others score one Other editions: point for each yellow egg and Currently none two points for the white one and you win with most points. Quick, cute, and a marvelous training for agility and motor skill, and a game that works well indoors. þ

card or 2) play an Elemon card INFORMATION from your hand or 3) acquire a PLAYERS: AGE: TIME: ELEMON Gigamon by discarding three 2-6 8+ 45+ QUEST FOR identical Elemons and taking THE PHILOSOPHER‘S STONE the corresponding Gigamon Designer: K. Aouidad + Team or 4) activate a Gigamon or 5) Artist: Marie-Anne Bonneterre Price: on demand Festival International des Jeux are on a quest for the Philoso- brew a potion or 6) produce the Publisher: Elemon Games 2014 in Cannes - during my walk pher’s Stone with the help of Philosopher’s Stone. For actions www.elemongames.com through the halls I find booth, fantasy creatures. Players em- 5) and 6) you discard the neces- Olympie, obviously a distributor, body those alchemists and hold sary Elemon cards. When you EVALUATION because they also show a game four Elemon cards in hand at the have managed to manufacture Fantasy, roll, move, collect from Quantuum Magic from start. You roll a die and move the Philosopher’s Stone or if you Users: For families the Netherlands and games one of the two general mark- have collected nine Alchemy Version: fr from Red Glove from Italy. Part ers, then you can use the power Points from brewing potions Rules: fr In-game text: yes of the booth is taken by a pub- of the Elemon that you ended and Gigamon actions, the game Comments: lisher called Elemon Games, your turn on. Then you take ends and you win. Pretty components * Cute with a game of the same name, two action markers and can use Elemon is a game using stan- design * Short, good rules * Elemon, in which alchemists each on to 1) draw an Elemon dard mechanisms - collecting Nice family game cards and exchange them for Compares to: All games where you col- other items or using Elemon lect A to then swap A for B powers to hinder your oppo- Other editions: nents or to protect your own Currently none Gigamons. The game attracts attention due to the nice design and the cute Elemons, who can be found somewhere between Pokémons and the monsters from King of Tokyo - all in all a nice family game with good, concise rules, a touch above run-of-the-mill roll & move games. þ

WIN The Games Journal now also available as eBook! www.gamesjournal.at For all information on that check our website. ISSUE 463 / MARCH 2014 21 PLAYED FOR YOU u FINGER WEG! / FUN FARM

their discs simultaneously, the INFORMATION starting player has of course put PLAYERS: AGE: TIME: FINGER WEG! the empty side up. The control 3-8 12+ 45+ … FROM THE WORLD‘S MOST slide is opened: If there is no EXPENSIVE BUILDING lightning symbol, the starting Designer: Peter Wichmann player and all with empty side Artist: Oliver Richtberg Price: ca. 40 Euro The title gives you your task, ante, Totilas, Halla, Fuchur and of the disc up stay in play. The Publisher: Zoch Verlag 2013 Hands off wrong statements. Sleipnir. The starting player others score as many points as www.zoch-verlag.com Each card lists seven facts that chooses one statement that he there are open slides and are are innocuous and one state- believes to be innocuous, the out for the round. The later you EVALUATION ment that is deadly dangerous other players vote with their must quit the higher your score. Knowledge, betting and which you should recog- Hands off discs. You place it se- The starting player hands on the Users: With friends nize. cretly empty side up, if you also fuse box to the next player who Version: de A card is placed into the “fuse believe the statement to be in- chooses another statement, and Rules: de In-game text: yes box” and read out, for instance” nocuous, or lightning side up so on. When a lightning symbol Comments: Hands off the famous ride that if you believe the statement to appears or there is only one Nice selection of questions is no horse!”. The card lists Ilts- be dangerous, if you want to statement left or only one play- * Progressive Scoring * chi, Jolly Jumper, Burak, Rosin- take your Hands off! All relieve er in the game, all that are still Standard mechanisms * Booklet with solution in the game or have chosen the included right disc side, score 10 points Compares to: and the starting player changes. Quiz games identifying wrong If all have been starting player statements Other editions: once, you win with most points. Currently none A standard quiz game with nicely upgraded scoring and voting mechanism as well as a nice gimmick, the fuse box; the game is fun, triggers discussion and the information booklet is a real bonus! þ

there is no corresponding re- INFORMATION sult the card remains in place PLAYERS: AGE: TIME: FUN FARM and the next farmer adds a new 2-10 6+ 30+ BACK TO THE BARN! one. Now, two cards can be ac- tivated in each turn. When two Designer: Luca Bellini cards showing the same animal Artist: E. Signini, P. Vallerga Price: ca. 16 Euro To run away from the farm As the first farmer you start the are activated, the successful Publisher: Heidelberger 2013 seems to be - at least in games game by drawing a card that is player gets both cards. You are www.heidelbaer.de - the favorite way of animals to placed within the circle. Then allowed to use both hands to pass the time, again and again you roll two dice, also within the grab two animals at the same EVALUATION one needs to go and catch circle. time, but if you drop an animal Dice, reaction them. In Fun Farm the runaways When one of the cards shows before you set it down in front Users: For children have arranged themselves in a one of the dice results, the card of yourself, another player can Version: de circle and cards with their im- is activated and the animal on grab it. When a card is activated Rules: cn de fr it ru In-game text: no ages are stacked face down. it can be snatched. The player and players fail to spot the acti- Comments: Two dice show colors and cor- who succeeds in grabbing it vation, the animal can only be Cute animals that provide responding symbols are on the gets the card and the animal caught next round with a new good grip * Easy rules cards. Players are farmer in turn. is put back in the circle. When roll activating it. * Nice combination of both standard topic and If you grab the wrong animal standard mechanisms you put a card back in the mid- Compares to: dle, it can now again be acti- All games on quick reactions to vated. The game ends with the revealed cards Other editions: round in which the last card is Iello, Post Scriptum, Raven Distribu- drawn from the pile and you win tion, Swan Panasia, Lifestyle with most cards. It is really astonishing how regularly used standard topics and mechanism can result in a simple, cute game, as well as re- gards to cute animals as to the nice mechanisms that work well together. þ

Color codes, target groups, features, icons and GABIS are 22 ISSUE 463 / MARCH 2014 explained on page 5 and at the bottom of pages 34 and 35 www.gamesjournal.at GARDENS / ICI LONDRES t PLAYED FOR YOU

in the garden, you move one INFORMATION of them to the new tile. Other PLAYERS: AGE: TIME: GARDENS markers are obstacles that you 2-4 8+ 45+ GARDEN BEDS IN MY FAVORITE COLOR cannot cross. If you cannot place a tile or do not want to do so you Designer: Perepau Llistosella put the tile back and remove a Artist: C. Fiore, M. Margielsky Price: ca. 23 Euro Are garden is about to be plant- tiles with flowers in his color marker from the garden. Fi- Publisher: Kosmos 2014 ed and each gardener wants to only. nally, you can move the second www.kosmos.de see most of the flowers in his Players put one marker on the marker in the garden and then favorite color. Garden tiles show corresponding color marking completed beds are scored. For EVALUATION flowers in four colors in their on the starting tile, all garden a majority you place one of your Tile placement, majorities four corners, and also water and tiles are stacked face down. In flower bed tiles on the beds. At Users: For families paths. You place tiles adjacent your turn you place a newly the end of the round, in which Version: de border to border with continu- drawn tile or your own tile into someone places his last tile or Rules: de es pt In-game text: no ation of paths and water. Each the garden and must then, if in which there are only four tiles Comments: player chooses his color and your second marker is not yet in left in stock, you win with most Beautiful design and takes two markers, eight flower the garden, put this marker on beds. components * Basically bed tiles and one special garden the new tile. With both markers You can also play Gardens in an abstract game, but the topic fits the mechanisms * a team version with 2 versus 2 Simple, easy rules players, using adapted rules, Compares to: and those rules are also used in Garden Dice, Sanssouci and other a game for two players. games on laying out gardens Other editions: Beautiful, easy, a placement Devir game that is fun and plays well, needing a bit of luck when drawing tiles and a suitable amount of tactic, all in all a fe- licitous games for all fans of tile placement game for all kinds of gaming experience, from fami- lies upwards. þ

contain a subject, a verb and INFORMATION a supplement, including the PLAYERS: AGE: TIME: ICI LONDRES necessary connecting words. 3-6 8+ 30+ SECRET MESSAGES FOR THE RÉSISTANCE So, for instance, a sentence for an image of a Cow with a Bell Designer: Charles Chevallier and a Door with a Key could be Artist: Laure Mascarello Price: ca. 10 Euro WWII in France; the Résistance is in a 3x3 grid. Each player takes “Here London, French speak to Publisher: Cocktail Games 2013 communication via BBC Radio. one Résistance card for a score French, Easter brings the solu- www.cocktailgames.com As a member of the Résistance marker, “0” pointing at players. tion, I repeat, Easter brings the we must pass on coded mes- 36 image cards are shuffled and solution” - Easter identifying EVALUATION sages to our fellow Résistance stacked face-down. the Bell, solution identifying Communication members without interception The speaker draws two image the Key. Players now use one Users: With friends by the German Wehrmacht. cards and must enable Résis- of four methods to point a fin- Version: fr One player is first speaker, his tance players to identify the ger or fingers to images on the Rules: fr it In-game text: no neighbor is Wehrmacht, and all pictures without Wehrmacht Synthese cards - for a correct Comments: the others are Résistance play- cottoning on. The message be- identification the speaker turns Very rare topic * Unusual ers. Nine “Synthese” cards with gins with “Here London, French up his card. Wehrmacht scores game idea * Images totally four images each are placed speak to French” and must then 2 points for a correct identifica- language-independent tion, an identification by a Résis- Compares to: Communication games tance player scores one point for with guessing at contents both Résistance and Speaker. If Other editions: you have a score of eight points, Radio Londra, Oliphante you win instantly, otherwise the player with most points. An unusual game idea with an unusual and rare topic, as all such games it works best the better players know each other. Again a thrilling challenge for communication abilities and creativity. þ

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or that was the previous dance INFORMATION named and done. You can place PLAYERS: AGE: TIME: KAKERLAKENTANZ the card, but must name and 2-6 6+ 20+ FOUR DANCES FOR THE FLOOR do another dance. If you place a Taboo card you simply call Designer: Jacques Zeimet Stopp. The dance on the taboo Artist: Rolf Vogt Price: ca. 10 Euro After soup and salad and a game four Taboo cards for each dance. card is forbidden for all and the Publisher: Drei Magier/Schmidt 14 of poker the cockroaches are All dance cards are shuffled to- next player must start a new www.schmidtspiele.de now in the mood to dance. 112 gether and evenly distributed, discard pile. When a taboo card dance cards show four different surplus cards are set aside. You is placed on the second stack EVALUATION dance styles - Aua means you take your card stack in hand you switch back to the first, and cards, movement, reaction should stand up briefly, Bssss face-down. You put the top so on. When stacks are changed, Users: For families means circle your finger, Flapp card of your stack on the table there are two taboo dances for Version: multi Flapp makes you flap your arms quickly, do the correspond- one single player. Rules: de en fr it nl In-game text: no and Meep makes you pinch ing movement and name the If you make a mistake, hesitate Comments: your nose. 16 dance card are dance - but - you cannot name too long or stutter, you must Variant of Kakerlakensalat Taboo dance cards, they show and do a dance that is shown on take all cards on the table. If you * Made more difficult by a disco mirror ball, and there are the top card of the discard pile are first to discard all your cards movement * Good training for concentration and in hand, you win. reaction A nice and cute reaction game, Compares to: Kakerlakensalat with move- Kakerlakensalat, Kakerlakensuppe ment, which doesn’t make Other editions: things easier, but provides a fun Currently none and only seemingly simple prac- tice for concentrating, with lots of fun. Bssss played and danced - Meep taboo played and Stopp, Meep played and Flapp Flapp danced, Bssss played and Flapp Flapp danced, oh no, mistake, pick up the cards! þ

card you must play it. Finally, the INFORMATION attack is scored: If you have the PLAYERS: AGE: TIME: KUNG FU higher value, you win. In case of 2 8+ 20+ ATTACK AND BLOCK a loss for the defender he loses life points equal to the differ- Designer: M. Palm, L. Zach ence between Attack and Block. Artist: Dennis Lohausen Price: ca. 17 Euro In the guise of an experienced attacker can forfeit the initiative When the defender wins he can Publisher: White Goblin Games 13 Kung Fu Master you try to knock and draw three cards for being draw a number of cards equal www.whitegoblingames.com your opponent out. There 30 red the new defender. Should the to the Attack/Block difference Attack and 30 blue Block cards, new attacker hold no attack and initiative stays with the at- EVALUATION some cards introduce special ef- card, he must turn defender tacker. Or the defender takes Combat simulation, cards fects that can be activated. You again. Then the current at- over the initiative and his op- Users: For families have 10 Life points, draw three tacker playes a card - if he plays ponent draws three cards. Cards Version: multi cards from each stack and the if face-down the defender can used that show energy symbols Rules: de en fr nl In-game text: no starting player has the initiative. instantly draw one card. The de- remain with players, other used Comments: The player with initiative is the fender then plays a Block card cards are discarded. Energy Card comparison with attacker of the round which or passes for a defense value symbols can be used to pay for attractive additional comprises four phases: First the of Zero. When you hold a Block activation of special effects on mechanisms * Strategic elements by management other cards. The attacker does of initiative and effects * not lose life points in case of a Rather conventional graph- win for the defender. ics and topic Compares to: Kung FU does not exclusively 8 Masters Revenge for topic, all card thrive on direct card compari- games with value comparison of son; managing special card cards effects and initiative provide Other editions: Currently none a second, more strategic ap- proach - it’s a pity that this well- made game did not draw more attention! þ

Color codes, target groups, features, icons and GABIS are 24 ISSUE 463 / MARCH 2014 explained on page 5 and at the bottom of pages 34 and 35 www.gamesjournal.at LETNISKO / LONGHORN t PLAYED FOR YOU

you hold action markers, which INFORMATION are placed in turn - in the first PLAYERS: AGE: TIME: LETNISKO round of placing them you can 2-5 8+ 45+ SUMMER RESORT use both and must then pass in round 2. If you have the Porter Designer: Karol Madaj marker you can do an additional Artist: Urszula Michalska Price: ca. 20 Euro In the 1930ties in Poland, some- all actions, players receive their action. Possible actions are in- Publisher: Gry Leonardo 2013 where near Warsaw - summer Investment cards and Vacation- viting vacationers for Phase 3, www.gryleonardo.pl resorts are springing up along er cards, which are placed into take a package from the train the railway track - the better the buildings. After 10 or 12 rounds = receive money or to invest EVALUATION resort the more money you can the game ends and you win in land or buildings. Allocating Worker placement earn with it. with most victory points from guests to houses is governed by Users: With friends Round comprise three phases: money and properties, cards stringent rules: Each house can Version: multi In Phase I a train carrying resort and forest are worthless. take two guests of the required Rules: en pl In-game text: no guests arrives at the station. In The number of arriving vaca- characteristics, empty houses Comments: Phase II players in turn place tioners depends on the num- are filled first and guests must Beautiful, nostalgic topic their markers to claim actions. ber and quality of resorts and be allocated to the lowest pos- corresponding design * In Phase III, after implementing weather conditions. For Phase II sible number of houses. Prices for worker place- ment regulated by an Letnisko is a short compact interesting mechanisms * worker placement game with Not easy to acquire a charming topic in which you Compares to: All kinds of worker placement games can do any investment, but at a with accumulating costs for actions higher cost for later choices - un- Other editions: less you use two action for one Currently none investment and get it for free! A sophisticated game with great emphasis on clever planning, a game that is rewarding to try, also due to the nice design! þ

action marker: Gold Nuggets -> INFORMATION take it for gold; Branding Iron PLAYERS: AGE: TIME: LONGHORN -> take cows from an adjacent 2 8+ 15+ STAL CATTLE AND GOLD location; Epidemic -> take all cows of a color out of the game; Designer: Bruno Cathala Snake Oil -> take another turn; Artist: Vincent Dutrait Price: ca. 20 Euro Cattle theft in Texas - as an out- coin, the other player chooses Ambush ->- steal one nugget Publisher: Blue Orange Games 13 law you want to be the richest a four-cow location and places or two cows of a color from www.blueorangegames.eu at the end or let your opponent the Outlaw token there. If you your opponent; Rattlesnake -> be arrested by the sheriff. Nine outlaw is visible on the token, it place one of your cows of each EVALUATION locations are placed for a board is your turn and you steal cattle. color on any adjacent locations; Set collecting in a 3x3 grid and you place cows You take - at the current location Sheriff -> you have lost instantly. Users: With friends and one randomly drawn action of the outlaw token - all cows in Then, if applicable, you relocate Version: multi marker on each of them; when a color of your choice. Should the Outlaw token by as many Rules: de en es fr it nl pt In-game text: no the sheriff is drawn he is placed you hold nine cows of one color, locations as you took cows and Comments: on Notting Hill. you win instantly. Otherwise, turn it over. When all location Very good 2-player game To determine the starting player you implement - in case there that be reached are empty the * Lots of tactics despite you flip the Outlaw token like a are no cows at the location - the game ends: Each of your cows simple rules * Can play dif- ferent when playing with or earns 100 Dollar for each cow of without Sheriff that color still on the board. Compares to: This game is pure dilemma - Set collection game with variable each cow you take devalues set values Other editions: all cows of that color! To cat- Currently none tily relocate your opponents surely results in retaliation and don’t forget to consider the ac- tion markers! Fantastic tactical opportunities in an attractive game! þ

WIN The Games Journal now also available as eBook! www.gamesjournal.at For all information on that check our website. ISSUE 463 / MARCH 2014 25 PLAYED FOR YOU u MAKE ‚N‘ BREAK CIRCUS / MAUERHÜPFER

Whoever finishes first, grabs INFORMATION the food can - represented by PLAYERS: AGE: TIME: MAKE ‚N‘ BREAK CIRCUS a small wooden cylinder - and 2-4 6+ 10+ CONSTRUCTS FOR THE THEATRE calls “Bravo!”. The other builder stops, too, and the finished con- Designer: A. and J. Lawson struct is checked; if it is correct Artist: W. Pepperle, J. Krause Price: ca. 7 Euro Make ‘n’ Break is familiar - build- other; the winner of the round you note the points on the card. Publisher: Ravensburger 2014 ing cards show constructs, is the player who completes his Those cards come in three levels www.ravensburger.de which players must reconstruct construct first. Each of the two of difficulty and accordingly you under time pressure. The con- builders of a round takes one set can win one to three points with EVALUATION struction that is set up must ex- of pieces, comprising a tiger, a a card. Construction, time element actly correspond to the image panther and five wooden blocks For each possible number of Users: For families on the card, also in color and of different size, color and width. players the number of rounds to Version: multi order of blocks. A building card is turned over; play and partners for a round are Rules: de fr it nl In-game text: no Make ‘n’ Break Circus picks up on a command both players designated, so that each player Comments: this mechanism, but in this reconstruct this building as has the same number of turns Variant of Make ‘n’ Break variant two players always en- quickly as they can, including and chances to win a duel. You * Players engage in direct gage in direct duel against each the location of both animals. win the competition if you have duels * Variants listed most points after all rounds Compares to: All other editions of Make have been played. The rules give ‘n’ Break suggestions to balance different Other editions: ages in players. Currently none Make ‘n’ Break stays the same in any version - good, challenging and with well-designed tem- plates; in a direct duel it is even more challenging. Construction fun for all the family with handi- cap options when age differ- ences are too big. þ

you can use two results to jump INFORMATION over walls twice. If you end your PLAYERS: AGE: TIME: MAUERHÜPFER turn on a spot that is already 2-4 8+ 40+ MÄDN WITH A DIFFERENCE taken you send the marker al- ready there back to the starting Designer: Norbert Tauscher area. There is now obligation to Artist: not named Price: ca. 20 Euro Mensch ärgere Dich nicht! turns values, each wall caries eight send a marker back. When you Publisher: Schmidt Spiele 2014 100! This jubilee is celebrated numbers. You roll two dice and move in the same direction for www.schmidtspiele.de with a variant called Mauerhüp- use both results for the same both results you only defeat fer. The differences begin with marker. You can choose the the marker on the final spot for EVALUATION the track, it is no round track, direction for movement and the second move. Should you roll & move but a straight meandering line can change direction when the change direction after the first Users: For families from start to finish with two first result has been completely move or do a wall jump, you de- Version: de marked finish spots for entry to used. If your marker sits on a po- feat the marker on the “tempo- Rules: de In-game text: no the finish areas. sition of the track adjacent to a rary stop”. When you have com- Comments: Between the segments of the wall number for which you have pleted both results and your Anniversary edition for 100 track you find walls that are an unused dice result, you can marker then sits on a Z spot, that Years Mensch ärgere Dich marked with numeric dice jump across the wall. If possible, is, a finish entry spot, you can nicht * New rule walls and moving back * More tactic, put the marker into your finish still the same amount of area. If you are first to assemble luck all markers there, you win. Compares to: All other editions of Mensch ärgere Together with the backwards Dich nicht moves and the use of two dice Other editions: the walls provide quite a bit of Currently none tactic, albeit without chang- ing anything about the huge chance element in the game. If people think too much the game can get longish, but all in all the experiment was success- ful. þ

Color codes, target groups, features, icons and GABIS are 26 ISSUE 463 / MARCH 2014 explained on page 5 and at the bottom of pages 34 and 35 www.gamesjournal.at MEIN ERSTES KRABBELKÄFER-SPIEL / MILLIONENRAUB t PLAYED FOR YOU

into your garden. Should there INFORMATION be more than one chip on the MEIN ERSTES PLAYERS: AGE: TIME: KRABBELKÄFER-SPIEL leaf you take them all. Then you 2-4 3+ 10+ LADY BIRDS ON A BEECH TREE LEAF take the same number of in- sects from stock to refill the leaf. Designer: I. and M. Brand When there is no suitable bug Artist: S. Kretzmann, S. Kondirolli Price: ca. 14 Euro A beautiful garden needs its bugs on each leaf - Lady Bird, on the designated leaf, you pass Publisher: moses. Verlag 2013 insects, bugs and beetles, but Ant, Bee, Butterfly, Spider and your turn to your next neighbor. www.moses-verlag.de unfortunately a lot of the insects Caterpillar. If you are first to have collected have escaped and are hiding You roll both dice: The bugs die seven creepy crawly bugs for EVALUATION among the leaves, so you must tells you the kind of insect you your garden in this way, you win Dice, collecting retrieve them and try to be the must collect, and the leaves die the game. It is completely irrel- Users: For children first who manages to bring back shows you the kind of leaf from evant which kind of insects or Version: de seven insects to his garden. which you must take the creepy how many insects of one kind Rules: de In-game text: no Six different leaves - Chestnut, crawly insect. When there is you have collected, there must Comments: Maple, Lime, Beech, Ivy and Oak a chip showing the currently be seven of them. Beautiful drawings * Simple - are laid out on the table and wanted insect on the correct Enchanting and very beautiful, rules * Pure dice game you put four randomly chosen leaf, you take insect and put it those are the first words that Compares to: enter my mind to describe this All collection game with dice game, it is very lovingly made Other editions: and illustrated; each garden is Currently none different, as are the leaves. The mechanism - dice rolling only - fits the target age and along the way players learn the shapes of six different tree leaves and also notice that insects are quite beautiful when you take a closer look at them. þ

painting. Then the starting play- INFORMATION er enters a starting positions and PLAYERS: AGE: TIME: MILLIONENRAUB a random series of clues into the 2-4 12+ 30+ THEFT IN A MUSEUM “Forensic” sheet which is then displayed for all. Players then Designer: I. and M. Brand question witnesses by playing Artist: L. Eberle, M. Schatz Price: ca. 10 Euro The museum was full of visi- and between two bends there a police and a witness card for Publisher: Gmeiner Verlag 2013 tors and yet the most famous must always be one straight coordinates and are shown the www.hutter-trade.de picture of the exhibition was piece. When the corridor is corresponding clue by the start- stolen. Players must determine drawn, visitors are put orthogo- ing player. Twice in the game EVALUATION the culprit, using 92 cards, com- nally adjacent to each corridor you can share an information re- Crime, logic, deduction prising 8 cards “Clue”, 42 cards square, then statues orthogo- ceived by another player. When Users: With friends “Police” and 42 cards “Witness”. nally next to visitors and, finally, you know the content of each Version: de At first the starting player cre- paintings orthogonally next to square you can follow the clues Rules: de In-game text: no ates a museum room on a 6x6 statues until the grid is filled. to the culprit. Comments: grid: The corridor must connect Thus there can never be a statue Whoever deduces this quickest, Logic puzzle, nicely north-south or east-west, can- or a painting next to a corridor wins, or you win, if you play until transferred to a crime not branch off, bends are 90° and never a visitor next to a everybody was starting player topic * Exact transfer of information necessary * once, by winning most rounds. Knowledge of corridor is Pure Logic, and a very simple sufficient * Templates for “Museum” and “Forensic” available for mechanism - an enticing and download well-made combination! You Compares to: only need to use your ingenu- Other crime games in the series ity to find the layout of the cor- Other editions: ridor, then you can fill in the Currently none rest according to the rules the starting player followed to cre- ate the museum and thus find the culprit quickly. Entertaining criminal fun! þ

WIN The Games Journal now also available as eBook! www.gamesjournal.at For all information on that check our website. ISSUE 463 / MARCH 2014 27 PLAYED FOR YOU u PATRONIZE / PIÑA PIRATA

are new starting player. A won INFORMATION trick wins you the fame card PLAYERS: AGE: TIME: PATRONIZE and an Achievement cube in 3-5 10+ 20+ RENAISSANCE MERCHANTS AS PATRONS the character’s color. Then all others who did play a character, Designer: Hisashi Hayashi take an Achievement cube ac- Artist: Ryo Nyamo Price: ca. 15 Euro As rich merchants players sup- aration, Choose action, Earn cording to their own character Publisher: Okazu Brand/Japon Brand 13 port talents to acquire fame for Fame/Achievements and Select played and one according to www.japonbrand.com themselves. characters. You turn up a fame the character played by the next The game features 17 charac- card, it determines the rule for neighbor in clockwise order. If EVALUATION ter cards and 7 fame cards; de- the round. For action you play you protected your character Cards, trick-taking pending on the number of play- a character and can - once in you take if for a protégé; then Users: With friends ers you shuffle and stack 5 to 7 the game - protect it with your all others who passed take one Version: multi fame cards, character cards are mentor cube or you pass. If you of the unprotected characters Rules: de en fr jp In-game text: yes dealt evenly to all players, a sur- played a character you win the that were played, or an Achieve- Comments: plus is set aside, and each player trick depending on influence ment cube. After 5 to 7 such Lots of interaction and takes a protection cube. values of characters and trump rounds you score victory points game depth based on A game round comprises Prep- markers on the fame card and for fame cards, protégés and minimalistic components * Knowledge of cards is an special abilities as well as special advantage and important abilities and achievements; for * Sophisticatedly varied each card in hand you must de- trick-taking mechanisms Compares to: duct 10 points. Love Letter for number of cards and A little hidden jewel as a few game depth versus expenditure other games from Japon Brand Other editions: over the last years - incredible Currently none what one can get out of a maxi- mum of 16 cards - lots of inter- action and game depth coupled with the dilemma of play or pass, protect or not? þ

tion pile. If not, you draw a card. INFORMATION If necessary, you shuffle the ac- PLAYERS: AGE: TIME: PIÑA PIRATA tion pile for a new draw pile. 2-6 7+ 30+ QUEST FOR THE GOLDEN PINEAPPLE When you are out of cards, you win the round. You draw two ad- Designer: Donald X. Vaccharino venture tiles and add one to the Artist: Polouchine, Guinebaud Price: ca. 20 Euro Pirates are on a quest for the start the action pile. Adventure open display, its rule is now valid Publisher: iello 2014 ultimate treasure the Golden tiles are stacked face-down and with all the other ones, too. The www.iello.info Pineapple! Map parts are strewn two are turned up and provide other tile you take for a piece of all over the Caribbean and each the first two rules. There are 10 your treasure map. EVALUATION location provides its own ad- kinds of pirates, each depicted You can play the game in Cruise Card shedding, changing venture. on ten cards, 9x on a card with Mode: You play as many rounds rules You play in rounds and want to another pirate and once alone as you want or until the adven- Users: With friends be first in each round to discard on a double card. You start with ture tile rules get too confusing; Version: en Rules: en fr your cards and to win a piece of 7 or 8 cards and play in turn: If if you hold most adventure tiles In-game text: yes the treasure map. Pirate cards you hold the same pirate as is you win. If you play in Adven- Comments: are stacked face down for a draw visible on top of the action pile ture Mode you win with four Changing parameters for pile, the first card is turned up to you place your card on the Ac- Adventure tiles; if during the each round * Topic fits the mechanisms nicely * Cruise game there are six adventure mode is good to get famil- tiles in play you discard one be- iar with adventure rules fore adding a new one. Compares to: UNO for placing cards or drawing A true Vaccarino - again every- cards, Nefarious for changing rules thing changes, this time in each Other editions: round; you need a bit of luck to Currently none make optimum use of the ad- venture tiles. The Cruise Mode to learn the adventures is inge- nious, as is the Adventure mode! þ

Color codes, target groups, features, icons and GABIS are 28 ISSUE 463 / MARCH 2014 explained on page 5 and at the bottom of pages 34 and 35 www.gamesjournal.at SABOTEUR 2 / SCRABBLE FREESTYLE t PLAYED FOR YOU

who vie with each other, supple- INFORMATION mented by Chef, Profiteer and PLAYERS: AGE: TIME: SABOTEUR 2 Geologist. Chef builds paths for 2-12 8+ 30+ PROSPECTING FOR GOLD IN TEAMS both dwarf groups and wins al- ways, but gets one gold less; a Designer: Frederic Moyersoen Profiteer wins with Prospectors Artist: Andrea Boeckhoff Price: ca. 10 Euro 10 years after Saboteur the card played for him cannot play or Saboteurs and takes two gold Publisher: Amigo Spiele 2014 game is given an extension. a path card. When the treasure less - and the Geologist digs www.amigo-spiele.de Gold prospectors want to reach has been reached or nobody on his own and gets as much the treasure, saboteurs want to can play a suitable card, the gold as there are crystals on the EVALUATION put obstacles in their path; you round ends. The winners receive paths. There are also new path placement, faction identifica- should support members of gold according to the roles in cards like double bend, bridge tion your faction. Both factions place play. After 3 rounds you win or path cards with crystal, lad- Users: For families path cards or play action cards with most gold. der or door and new actions Version: de Rules: de en fr gr nl at other players, those cards can For Saboteur 2 you use path comprise, for instance, theft, or In-game text: no help or hinder you. Cards must and action cards from the basic swapping of hats or inspection Comments: be placed with corresponding game, the dwarves are all new: or swapping of hand cards. Extension for Saboteur * edges; a player with an action Blue and Green prospectors Some games remain untouched Expands the game without changing basic mecha- by the passing times, Saboteur nisms * Plays best with a in this new extension is at least large group as good as the basic game, if Compares to: not better; actions are more Saboteur Other editions: intensive and have stronger 999 Games, Asmodee, Kaissa, Z-Man consequences, you can change roles, for instance. You should play Saboteur 2 with the largest group that you can manage to assemble to fully enjoy rivalries of the factions and the intense flavor of the game.þ

stance, if you have the letters for INFORMATION “yield” you cannot use the “y” to PLAYERS: AGE: TIME: SCRABBLE FREESTYLE turn “cheek” into “cheeky” and 2-4 10+ 30+ WORDS IN ANY DIRECTION then complete “yield”, you must use one of the “e” in “cheek” to Designer: not named place “yield”. Chips of two differ- Artist: not named Price: ca. 13 Euro Scrabble Freestyle - Name and you take 54, 36 or 27 letter ent words can touch each other Publisher: Mattel 2013 packaging promise something chips in case of two, three or curvature to curvature. At the www.mattel.de unusual - in the roughly sand- four players, and turn up seven end of your turn you turn up let- timer-shaped box we find a of them. The first player places ters until you have seven open- EVALUATION scrabble variant without a a word, letters touching each faced ones. Also new in this ver- Word placement board! In the box itself you then other dent to curvature. Then all sion are actions chips for miss- Users: For families find letter tiles as usual, but they place words in correct spelling, ing a turn, reversing turn order Version: de are different, too, they are chips, in any direction and direction or handing over letters - those Rules: de en es fr In-game text: no circular and have a dent that fits of reading, even with branching chips can be placed at the end Comments: the curvature of another chip. off within a word. But, a letter of of a regular turn, albeit only one Cute new packaging * Fan- All letters are turned over face- the new word must be on table per turn. Should you turn up tastic new rules * Elements down and shuffled, and then as part of a word already, for in- “discard 2 or 3 letters” you pass from UNO like changing direction of play or missing them to one or several other a turn players, you can take them from Compares to: your face-down stock or from Other editions of Scrabble the open letters. If you cannot Other editions: Editions in English, French and place a word, you exchange let- Spanish ters. If you place your last letter, you win. Scrabble Freestyle - Scrabble wow! What a fantastic variant! And it includes elements from UNO, too! þ

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new power cards, Enchantment INFORMATION Cards, Replica Power Cards, Die PLAYERS: AGE: TIME: SEASONS of Destiny Fate as well as trap 2-4 14+ 60+ PATH OF DESTINY markers and ensnaring mark- ers. At the start of the game you Designer: Régis Bonnessée choose on Enchantment card or Artist: Team Price: ca. 20 Euro Magicians select the Arch Magi- each player chooses one; then draw one randomly, it is valid for Publisher: Libellud/Asmodee 14 cian of Xidit in the Tournament you can resolve dice actions, the complete game and chang- www.asmodee.de of the 12 Seasons. In three levels activate and conjure power es the rules for all players; two of of difficulty you play with given cards and spend bonuses. After those cards demand the use of EVALUATION selection of cards. In Phase three years you score prestige the Die of Destiny. This die and Fantasy, resources, dice one you select one of nine from crystals and power cards its actions replace the actions of Users: With friends cards, hand on the other eight, minus power cards left in hand the Seasons Die and gives you Version: de chooses a card, and so on. Then and used bonuses and win with Destiny Points. If you have most Rules: de en fr In-game text: yes you make up three sets of three most points. of those points at the end of the Comments: cards and use them in one each Path of Destiny is - after Enchant- game, you get a bonus of 20 Again very beautifully of three years. All dice of the ed Kingdom - the second expan- prestige points. Six new ability designed * Interesting new current season are rolled and sion for Seasons, introducing tokens can be used once in the game details * Expands the core game nicely, based on game, their use costs or earns Enchanted Kingdom novel- you prestige points. ties and fits seamlessly with both * Leaves lots of room for Path of Destiny is an expansion modular deck selection full of flair and ambiance, illus- Compares to: trations are a special eye-catch- Seasons core game, Fantasy card er, the core game is thrillingly games with dice interaction extended and the new expan- Other editions: English and French editions from sions fits seamlessly with core Libellud game and in combination with Enchanted Kingdom and deliv- ers gameplay that is fun and challenging. þ

four steps: Waking up the Sleep- INFORMATION ing rooms, New monsters come PLAYERS: AGE: TIME: SUPER FANTASY out, Moving and attacking, 1-6 8+ 90+ UGLY SNOUTS ASSAULT Clearing out the tokens This all is supplemented by spe- Designer: Marco Valtriani cial powers for the heroes ac- Artist: F. Dumas, G. Favaro Price: ca. 35 Euro Adventures in the dungeons - a ster phase. When the mission cording to their own hero board Publisher: Red Glove 2013 new edition of a standard topic, target is achieved within the - those powers must be activat- www.redglove.eu light, rather quick and cute and number of rounds given for the ed by energy - and those magic offering several modes to play. mission, all players win together. items that can be found in the EVALUATION The adventurers choose a mis- In the hero phase heroes dis- chests. Each hero can carry two Fantasy, dungeon sion from the mission book, cuss who will do his turn when items and wear 1 armor. From Users: For families missions are sorted by difficulty and have six action each to acti- the small items that you find in Version: en level and the mission target vate movement, door opening, the bashed barrels you can carry Rules: en it In-game text: yes goes for all players. Each mission bashing of a barrel, unlocking a up to two in your backpack. In Comments: is made up from an individual chest, attack, defense, charging Arena scenarios heroes can also Cute drawings * Double- number of rounds which are up and, finally, disarming a trap. enter into direct confrontation sided board * Many com- spit into hero phase and mon- The monster phase comprises for the mission targets. binations due to special abilities of heroes * Nice This game is a new member of standard dungeon crawl the international “dungeons are Compares to: cool” movement, here we have All simple dungeon crawls again heroes vs. monsters - you Other editions: use and do what you can and Italian edition, Red Glove have and hope for the neces- sary smile of Lady Luc. Nothing special, but nice, cute drawings, funny texts, sometimes ostensi- bly so, you coud say business as usual for both heroes and mon- sters. þ

Color codes, target groups, features, icons and GABIS are 30 ISSUE 463 / MARCH 2014 explained on page 5 and at the bottom of pages 34 and 35 www.gamesjournal.at TURBO KRATZ DIE KURVE! / TWO CROWNS t PLAYED FOR YOU

betting spot: If you end on INFORMATION green and do not have a coin PLAYERS: AGE: TIME: TURBO KRATZ DIE KURVE! or do not want to bet, you just 2-4 5+ 15+ THE RACE GAME stop. But if you have a coin you can bet on your own victory Designer: Manfred Ludwig in this round and win 2 extra Artist: K. Witt, scnnuppenalarm Price: ca. 7 Euro Turbo is a snail that miraculously turn ends on a special “Nitro” coins. To bet you place a coin Publisher: Kosmos 2013 acquires super powers, that is, spot, you get an extra boost and on the green spot next to the www.kosmos.de the power to be super-fast. To- may roll again. But should your trophy and add two coins from day Turbo and his friends run a move end on a special spot “oil” stock and also take the betting EVALUATION private race. your snail slips and must pass tile, green side up. On Orange Car racing, license The race track is assembled, the next turn. Should you have you can win one coin, you put Users: For children each player takes a racing snail to end your move on a spot that one of your own and one from Version: de and a turbo coin. If it is your turn is occupied by another snail, stock onto the orange spot next Rules: de In-game text: no you roll the die and move your you overtake it and move to the to the trophy. Should someone Comments: snail forward. If the die shows no next free spot. already have bet on green, no- License topic * Very nice pips, you have a problem and The move of your snail could body else can bet in this round. mechanisms * Bets allow a must stay in place. When your also end on a green or orange If you reach the finish you win bit of tactic * Components and rules provide race the round and take the coin. ambience Bets are paid out when won. Compares to: If someone has eight or more All car race games using dice coins he wins the race! Other editions: Small, neat, featuring a license Currently none topic and also a bit of tactic from the betting - what more can one ask from a children’s’ game. Of course luck is the dominating factor, but this is what provides the race ambience. þ

do count towards the limit for INFORMATION cards in hand. Instead of attack- PLAYERS: AGE: TIME: TWO CROWNS ing you can recruit new forces 2 8+ 20+ MEDIEVAL SIEGE by drawing cards. Special cards can be played by both attacker Designer: Bos, Hoek, Zande and defender, must be paid Artist: Stefan Hoek Price: ca. 15 Euro It is said that medieval lords er does the same. Then cards are for by gold from you hand and Publisher: Quantuum Magic 13 passed the winter time till the revealed and the duel is won by you must play Vassal (2 Gold), www.quantuummagic.com next raid with this game. the player who laid down more Bishop (3) and Catapult (4) to- Each player has his personal attack points. Attack cards of the gether with at least one Knight. EVALUATION deck and draws 7 cards at the defender are placed on his per- Catapult causes damage of 10 Cards, hand-to-hand conflict start. Two 2-sided dice represent sonal discard pile. When the at- to the castle, the Bishop delivers Users: With friends the castles and begin at value tacker wins, the opposing castle your opponents strongest card Version: en 20. takes damage equal to the dif- in his hand to you and Feint re- Rules: en nl In-game text: no As the active player you are the ference in attack points. Knights moves the strongest opposing Comments: attacker and play up to four of the attacker go to rest, you knights and sends the others to Standard topic and cards from your hand, face- only pick them up again at the rest. Once in the game one and mechanisms * Gold for down on the table. The defend- end of the next turn, but they only one player can reroll the use of special cards is very scarce * Rules not explicit castle - the new value must be in some points * Rather accepted. When a castle is down chance-driven to value 0 this player has lost. Compares to: Two-Player card games with value Well, this is a game with a comparison of cards standard topic using standard Other editions: mechanisms, rather chance- Currently none driven and using value com- parison of cards; the kick is in the cost and use of special cards, you only have 10 gold all in all, as the discard pile is not reshuf- fled for a new draw-pile.þ

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tomime, tongue twisters or list- INFORMATION ing things. Questions on States PLAYERS: AGE: TIME: TYPISCH DEUTSCH?! or Dialect are always posed by 2-5 10+ 45+ DAS KAYA SPIEL your neighbor, all other play- ers but your neighbor posing Designer: Michael Feldkötter the question may give a guess, Artist: M. Blaha, A. Resch, C. Tisch Price: ca. 30 Euro Typisch Deutsch?! - an hom- steps - along the roads, to arrive too, all use their answer tiles for Publisher: Huch! & friends 2103 age to the Cult Comedian Kaya in a state for which you hold a guessing. www.hutter-trade.de Yanar in the guise of a quiz and card. If you cannot achieve this Regardless if you mastered party game for victory points. you take one of the cards on dis- your task or not, you take a new EVALUATION The game is set up with Federal play. If you reach a suitable state face-down State card from the Quiz, party State cards, Federal State tiles you chose a task at the start of display. If you get an event card Users: With friends and bonus tiles, players receive the game, later on the position you implement it when you en- Version: de Federal State cards which they of your marker on the scoring ter the corresponding state. A Rules: de In-game text: yes lay out face-down. You roll a track decides your task. Tasks correct answer earns you four Comments: die and move your marker up can be questions on the State points and a State tile for bonus- Kaya Yanar and his charac- to the maximum result - you or on Dialects, or actions tasks es, if you are the active player, ters only marginally visible do not need to use all possible like drawing, explaining, pan- other players score two points * Interesting selection of questions * Detailed when correct. If you are first to knowledge on Germany collect 40 points, you win. is necessary * Good mix of So far so standard, the allure is standard mechanisms Compares to: solely in the mix of questions All quiz games with elements from which relate exclusively to all Activity things German and also in find- Other editions: ing out how much one knows Currently none about Germany, its peculiari- ties and facts from Bavaria to Schleswig-Holstein! Who or what is Wilhelma? þ

no dead-end is created and that INFORMATION the next player can place a card PLAYERS: AGE: TIME: VIVA GORILLA completely within the jungle 2-4 6+ 20+ MONKEYS AND LIANAS area. Action cards result either in Designer: Opi and Me change of liana direction, Artist: not named Price: ca. 10 Euro Little monkeys are playing in At the start you draw the top change of color or, for a joker, Publisher: Piatnik 2014 the jungle on lianas and search card from the stack and put it in one of both according to your www.piatnik.com for suitable endings. 40 mon- the middle of the jungle. The ac- choice. The next player must key cards in four colors and 12 tive player places a monkey card place a suitable monkey card or EVALUATION action cards are shuffled and or an action card at one end of another action card. If you can- Card placement stacked, you are dealt seven the liana. For a monkey card the not place a card you draw one Users: For children cards. Then you determine the monkeys must have the same and can place it, if it is suitable. Version: multi jungle area at the start, because color and cards are places long If necessary you clear all cards Rules: de fr it pl In-game text: no a card can only be placed if it fits side to long side and short one but the last one placed - this Comments: completely within the jungle to short one, but monkeys can one is placed in the middle of Cute design * Well-known boundaries, that is, the playing stand on their head. You must the jungle and, in case of an mechanisms well revised area. always place a card in a way that action card, replaced with the * Nice illustrations * Good family game, too correct monkey card - all others Compares to: are shuffled for a new draw pile. UNO or Mau Mau for the If you can place your last card, placement rules you win. Other editions: Viva Gorilla packs up old Currently none mechanisms in a nice new way - monkey move Mau Mau style through the jungle and all have fun! Removing the display can change the situation complete- ly and enable you to place cards that were impossible to place before. þ

Color codes, target groups, features, icons and GABIS are 32 ISSUE 463 / MARCH 2014 explained on page 5 and at the bottom of pages 34 and 35 www.gamesjournal.at WELT DER SPIELE / WO VERSTECKT SICH DAS GESPENST? t PLAYED FOR YOU

each answer all players can give INFORMATION a guess if it is right or not and PLAYERS: AGE: TIME: WELT DER SPIELE place their chip on the respec- 2-5 14+ var. QUIZ FOR GAMERS tive tip tile. In this way each an- swer is handled individually, and Designer: not named of course you can - as there are Artist: Sabine Kondirolli Price: ca. 20 Euro At long last it has arrived, “our” together on the number of ques- could be more than one correct Publisher: HUCH! & friends 2014 edition in the successful series of tions and thus the duration of answer - of course place a tip on www.huchandfriends.de “Welt ….” Quiz games, we have the game. more than one tile. When all tips already learned a lot about cards, A question is read out with its have been placed for all answers EVALUATION wine, films or books and now we four answers. The number of the question is scored. Should Quiz, games can check what we already know correct answers varies from you have given one wrong Users: With friends about games and what we have question to question and can guess, regardless of how many Version: de still to learn about them. be anything from one to three. right ones, you do not score in Rules: de In-game text: yes The tip tiles are arranged in as- When the question was read and this round. If all your tips were Comments: cending order around the board, also all answers for a quick over- correct you advance accordingly Very elegant, topic-related and you are given a marker and view the question is read again on the board. design * Well-working three tip chips. Players decide and then each answer and after In this edition, too, this mecha- mechanism * Attractive selection of questions * nisms works exceedingly well, Challenging for experts, the option of several tips makes informative for casual one take risks, but - am I sure that players Compares to: Black is a color in Settlers - I do All other editions of “Welt ….” not want to lose the point for Or- Other editions: ange, because I’s sure about that, Currently none so better not place another chip? Or? At least there is no penalty for wrong answers but not mov- ing and the embarrassment to be wrong about “our” hobby. DO you know which game the little robot finds in WALL-E?þ

there are no more cards left on INFORMATION the table you continue to play PLAYERS: AGE: TIME: WO VERSTECKT SICH DAS GESPENST? with your hand cards and can 2-6 3+ 20+ BEHIND YELLOW CURTAINS? place suitable cards on the dis- card stack. If you are first to be Designer: Laima Zulonè rid of all your cards you win. Artist: not named Price: ca. 9 Euro Ghosts as nice, friendly play- discard stack. The active player In the second variant, a slightly Publisher: Logis / Savas Takas 13 mates instead of frighteners of must find a card corresponding more difficult one, it is not suffi- www.logis.lt children. 32 cards in the game in color to the top card of the cient to find a card correspond- depict four items and four discard stack and continue to ing in color; images must com- EVALUATION ghosts, each in colors of green, search and turn up cards until plement each other: When the memo, color red, yellow and blue. You can you have found a suitable card. template card, for instance, is a Users: For children use those cards to play two dif- Such a card is then placed on red ghost you must then find a Version: multi ferent games: top of the discard pile and you red item for a hiding place and - Rules: de en In-game text: no Tall 32 cards are shuffled and add one card of your choice vice versa - should the first card Comments: laid out face-down on the ta- from your hand for a new tem- depict an item for a hiding you Nice topic * Two versions ble. One card is turned up for a plate. The next player must now place you must find a ghost of * Color training game for template card and begins the find a card in this color. When the same color to hide there. toddlers Like all games from this Lithu- Compares to: All memo games with anian company, “Wo versteckt emphasis on color sich das Gespenst?” is a very Other editions: simple game with a little twist; Currently none in this case it is the combina- tion of memo and card shed- ding - the better your memory the fewer cards you need to get rid of in the closing phase of the game - a nice educational game for colors and memory. þ

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ACTIVITY ORIGINAL ALLES WAS DER BAUER BRAUCHT DIE KLEINE RAUPE NIMMERSATT 1-2-3 STAPELEI Publisher: Piatnik Publisher: Noris Spiele Publisher: Schmidt Spiele Designers: Paul Catty, Ernst Führer Designer: Michael Rüttinger Designers: Inka and Markus Brand

Many versions exist for this modern classic game. This one 376 picture tiles depicts things and animals that are necessary The little caterpillar is eating its way through fruits, vegetables reverts to the roots. More than 2500 new terms are offered and for a farmer or for a farm: Fields and land, trailers, vehicles, Dung and other delicacies, all the way up to the top. The leaf tile is the basic rule is amended with a new detail, which brings a bit and Waste, useful animals, domestic animals, poultry, buildings placed on the wooden cylinder, food tiles are spread around it. of tactics and even more interaction into the game. If a team has and products like potatoes or fruit. You collect quartets, decide In your turn you choose a food tile and place in on the leaf tile or solves a task and moves to a square already occupied by another on two category and turn up two cards. If you are first to own the respective top tile in a way that the head of the caterpillar is pawn, this pawn is moved back. So you can try to use card selec- both quartets of your selection you win. Or you play an informa- visible in the hole in the newly placed tile. You can turn the new tion to beat your opponent. If the pawn moving back ends up tion game - a game master who can read names a card; players tile any way you want. When the stack topples, all players but on an occupied square, nothing happens, and both pawns stay search for the card in the display and take the card if they find the one who caused it to topple receive a butterfly chip. The first on this square. New revised edition 2013 the correct one. If you hold five cards, you win. player to collect five such chips, wins! Version: de * Rules: de and others * In-game text: yes Version: de * Rules: de * In-game text: no Version: multi * Rules: de fr it * In-game text: no

Communication game for 3-16 players, ages 12+ Memo and collecting game for 1-4 players, ages 3+ Dexterity and stacking game for 2-4 players, ages 4+

DIE PINGUINE AUS MADAGASCAR AUF UND DAVON! DINO MEMO DISNEY SOFIA MEMORY Publisher: Kosmos Publisher: ASS Altenburger Publisher: Ravensburger Designer: Matthias Prinz

Penguins have escaped from the New York Zoo, but their im- The well-known game mechanisms of memory games are here The well-known game mechanisms of memory are here used for ages are posted everywhere - so they must be collect all those used for a game comprising 48 cards, that is, 24 pairs of cards, a game featuring the latest princess from the universe of Disney pictures as fast as they can to save their mission. All cards are featuring dinosaurs on lovely drawings in front of a landscape Princesses, Sofia, who becomes a princess when her mother heaped haphazardly on the table - all players turn over cards background. As usual, you play according to standard memory marries King Roland II. 72 cards form 36 pairs and show images simultaneously and as fast as they can and decide if they want rules: In your turn you reveal two tiles. If you have found a pair, from the animated cartoon series. As usual, you play according to keep a picture or put it back. If they put in in the stack there you keep it and can turn up another pair of cards. If you have to standard memory rules: In your turn you reveal two tiles. IF can never be the same penguin or the same background color turned up different images, you turn both tiles over again and you have found a pair, you keep it and can turn up another pair on two consecutive pictures. When all cards are taken or nobody the turn passes to the next player. When all pairs have been of cards. If you have turned up different images, you turn both wants to take a card anymore, stacks are checked and you win found and taken you win with most pairs. tiles over again and the turn passes to the next player. When all with the longest correct series. Version: multi * Rules: de en es fr it nl * In-game text: no pairs have been found and taken you win with most pairs. Version: de * Rules: de * In-game text: no Version: multi * Rules: de en es fr it nl * In-game text: no

Card collecting game for 2-4 players, ages 6+ Memo game for 2-8 players, ages 4+ Memo game for 2-8 players, ages 4+

RATZ FATZ FANTASY MAU MAU TOP TRUMPS STAR WARS EPISODE III WAS IST WAS JUNIOR BAUSTELLE Publisher: Haba Publisher: Winning Moves Publisher: Kosmos Designer: Hajo Bücken Designer: Kai Haferkamp

Start and finish card are laid out, the starting card is face-up; Choosing your card’s best attribute, beating (trumping) your A crowded picture on the topic of construction site is on display, the starting player tells one sentence to start the story. When opponent’s card, and winning the cards played in the round – each player puts his worker onto the box board in the color of the next player has card with the same image or the same already a Classic! Cards are dealt evenly to all players. The active helmet and shirt; discovery chips are laid out. Each area in the color as the starting card or the previous card he continues the player chooses an attribute on his top card (no shuffling of the picture is identified by coordinates using items. Two tip cards story with one sentence, the image on the card must always be deck!) and calls out the corresponding value – all other players depicting such items are are turned up. Players locate the cor- mentioned in the sentence. If you have no suitable card, you check their cards for the value of this attribute – the player with responding area and then check the chips for images in those draw a card. With, Witch’s house, Crown, Color Fairy and Magic the highest value gets all cards of this round. In case of a tie areas. If you find on you put the chip aside, the others must stop Potion are special cards in analogy to Mau Mau. If you play any cards go on the table and the winner of the next round receives to search. If you are correct you move your worker. card, you must continue the story. If you place your last card, you those too. Themeset: Star Wars Episode III Die Rache der Sith Version: de * Rules: de * In-game text: no reveal the finish card, finish the story and win. Version: de * Rules: de * In-game text: yes Version: multi * Rules: de en es fr it nl * In-game text: no

Story-telling version of Mau Mau for 2-4 players, ages 6+ Card/Quiz game for 2 or more players, ages 8+ Spotting game for 2-4 players, ages 5+

Color codes for target groups (Headline Color) Color codes for features (Bar in Evalution box) For children + learn With friends Chance Strategy Knowledge Communication Dexterity 34 For families For experts Tactic Creativity Memory Interaction Action HIGHLIGHTS AMONG GAMES t FROM THE MUSEUM

Picture: Christian Huber IMPRESSUM Offenlegung nach dem Mediengesetz: Medieninhaber, Eigentümer, Verleger und Hersteller: Verein „Österreichisches Spiele Museum“, vertreten durch Obfrau Dipl. Ing. Dagmar de Cassan, Raasdorferstrasse 28, 2285 Leopoldsdorf im Marchfelde, Österreich, Telefon 02216-7000, mail-to: [email protected], Internet: www.spielejournal.at - www.gamesjournal.at - Chefredakteur: Dipl.Ing. Dagmar de Cassan Blattlinie: Die Blattlinie ist die Meinung aller Redakteure, freien Mitarbeitern und Gastautoren. Die Spiele zur Erstellung der Rezensionen stellt das Österr. Spiele Museum für die Dauer der Arbeit kostenlos zur Verfügung. Niemand erhält Sach-,Service-, Geldleistungen von den Verlagen. (Alle nicht namentlich gekennzeichneten Rezensionen zu den Spielen sind von Dagmar de Cassan) English Edition Version 1.0 Copyright (c) 2014 by Spielen in Österreich - Die Spiele Collection, Spiele Kreis Wien, Österreichisches Spielefest, Spielefest, Wiener Spiele Akademie, Spiel der Spiele und zwei Spiele-Symbole sind eingetragene Warenzeichen. Ihre Email-Adresse: Wir versenden oft an unsere Mitglieder, Abonnenten und Interessenten eine Erinnerung für Termine und sonstige Infos. Wenn Sie noch nie eine Email von uns erhalten haben, fehlt uns Ihre Email!

Icon explanation GABIS explanation on page 5 Solo Play Two Players Large Groups Recommended Minimum Age 35